Vacuum engineering
Vacuum technology is a method used to evacuate air from a closed volume by creating a pressure differential from the closed volume to some vent, the ultimate vent being the open atmosphere. When using an industrial vacuum system, a vacuum pump or generator creates this pressure differential. A variety of technical inventions were created based on the idea of vacuum discovered during the 17th century. These range from vacuum generation pumps to X-ray tubes, which were later introduced to the medical field for use as sources of X-ray radiation. The vacuum environment has come to play an important role in scientific research as new discoveries are being made by looking back to the basic fundamentals of pressure. The idea of “perfect vacuum” cannot be realized, but very nearly approximated by the technological discoveries of the early 20th century. Vacuum engineering today uses a range of different material, from aluminum to zirconium and just about everything in between. There may be the popular belief that vacuum technology deals only with valves, flanges, and other vacuum components, but novel scientific discoveries are often made with the assistance of these traditional vacuum technologies, especially in the realm of high-tech. Vacuum engineering is used for compound semiconductors, power devices, memory logic, and photovoltaics.
Samuel Brown (engineer)
The gas vacuum engine was eventually to become a commercial success. In 1853-1854 Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci invented and patented the Barsanti-Matteucci engine which was a different form of gas vacuum engine. Developed further by Otto & Langen in Germany, it was put into worldwide production (outside Germany) by Crossley of Manchester between 1867 and 1877. Examples of this form of engine can be seen working at the Anson Engine Museum. This success arose from a demonstration of the engine at the World Fair in Paris in 1867, where it was shown to be far more efficient than the current production gas engine of Lenoir which was driven by the pressure resulting from burning the gas, rather than a vacuum. The successs of the vacuum engine was however short lived after the creation of engines that compressed the gas/air mixture before igniting it.