With the dramatic growth expected in many industries which require high temperature vacuum systems such as space simulation systems, 3D printing of metal components, the manufacture of single crystals for the LED and semiconductors and others, alternatives to traditional water cooling approaches may offer performance gains coupled with reduced costs. Temperature control for these applications can take several forms. In the case of space simulation, the vacuum system is designed to duplicate the temperature (and pressure) extremes that will be experienced by satellites in earth orbit, or beyond, which may require rapid cycling from -130°C to +130°C. For crystal growing, using methods such as the Kyropoulos process, where a crystal is 'pulled' from a melt of material, such as silicon, the internal temperature of a vacuum system may reach +1,450°C. In one case, the temperature control system for the vacuum chamber is designed to provide a user-specified profile of cold-to-hot and in another the system is required to safely mitigate and protect the system from the extreme temperature required to liquify silicon.
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