US3859551A - High-power electronic tube, in particular a microwave tube with improved cooling - Google Patents

High-power electronic tube, in particular a microwave tube with improved cooling Download PDF

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Publication number
US3859551A
US3859551A US359216A US35921673A US3859551A US 3859551 A US3859551 A US 3859551A US 359216 A US359216 A US 359216A US 35921673 A US35921673 A US 35921673A US 3859551 A US3859551 A US 3859551A
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United States
Prior art keywords
collector
liquid
envelope
tube
mass
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Expired - Lifetime
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US359216A
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English (en)
Inventor
Jacques Ninerailles
Auguste Raye
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Thales SA
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Thomson CSF SA
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J7/00—Details not provided for in the preceding groups and common to two or more basic types of discharge tubes or lamps
    • H01J7/24—Cooling arrangements; Heating arrangements; Means for circulating gas or vapour within the discharge space
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J19/00—Details of vacuum tubes of the types covered by group H01J21/00
    • H01J19/28—Non-electron-emitting electrodes; Screens
    • H01J19/32—Anodes
    • H01J19/36—Cooling of anodes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
    • H01J2893/00—Discharge tubes and lamps
    • H01J2893/0001—Electrodes and electrode systems suitable for discharge tubes or lamps
    • H01J2893/0012—Constructional arrangements
    • H01J2893/0027—Mitigation of temperature effects

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT In order to make it possible, using air in particular, to cool certain high power tubes the collector of which has dimensions too small to permit of such cooling itself, the invention provides for the association with the collector, cooled by evaporation of liquid, of a largearea element delimiting a closed volume partially occupied by the liquid mass in question, the cooling of said element being responsible for producing condensation of the vapour resulting from said evaporation, and the regeneration of the liquid mass.
  • the present invention relates to an. air-cooled electronic tube.
  • a y The, electron beam utilised in an electronic tube is available for dissipation, whereas, considered in this picked up, after passingthrough the tube, in'a collector. The latter must be capable of dissipating the power carried by the bearn'iatlthe instant of its impact upon the collector. This power is a variable fraction ofv the power applied'to the tube, the fractiondepending upon the tube efficiency.
  • the collector itself, has dimensions, in particular a" dissipative area, which are limited by various considerations which in effect mean that these dimensions cannot be increased in' propo rtion' with the power dissipated.
  • the electron beam frequently takes the form of a cylindrical beam of smallsectio ngthe fanning out of the beam in the collector must be restricted in order to prevent heating up of certain parts of the tube, an effect which could interfere withproper operation of the latter.
  • a power of at least one kilowatt would have to be reached, when operating in the decimetre waveband, before starting to talk about high power.
  • the invention provides for the association with the tube collector of a large-area element exposed to a cooling fluid, the dimensions of which element can be chosen independently of the criteria, listed hereinbefore, which the collectoritselfhasto satisfy.
  • This element is firmly coupled with the collector, the connection being provided by a'body of liquid bathing the whole of the collector and raised to boiling point by the thermal energy result- 'of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is' a diagram relating tothe devices in accordance with the invention.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5' are perspective views of two other embodiments of the tube in accordance with the invention. 1
  • FIG. 6 is a' variant embodiment of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic tube in accordance .with the invention.
  • the reference 1 signifies the base of the tube, that is to say that part thereof,
  • the tube putting out just a few watts, in the millimetre waveband, is-a hight power tube considered vis-a-vis the facilities electron collector whichhas ashape suitable. for performance of cooling by the evaporation of liquid.
  • 4 designates. the mass of cooling liquid which is raisedito theboiling point'when the tube is operated.
  • an elongated part 5 which enshrouds the collector 3 and contains the mass of liquid in question.
  • This part takes the form of a cylinder closed at itstopend, the mass of liquid ,4 occupying the 'bottom end.
  • This cylinder which is narrowed at its bottomend to a diameter close to'thatof thecollector, is equipped with fins 6, cooled bya'gazeous fluid, generally air.
  • the liquid occupies- Only a'small part of the height of the cylinder 5, the whole of the remainder of the. height being empty of any liquid,.-fln operation, the liquid mass is raised to the boiling point by the 'heat picked up by the collector under the effect of bombardment with the electrons of th'e beam propagating through the inside of the electhe operating wavelength almost invariablyfixes the general dimensions of the tube, and amongst these ditronic tube.
  • the vapour produced by boiling fills the freespace inside the cylinder 5 and is condensed by contactwith' the walls thereof due to the cooling which it experiences.
  • the cooling in question is produced by the forced circulation of air over the fins 6 This circulation is symbolicallyindicated by the arrow. 1
  • the cylinder 5 behaves as an isothermal enclosure for the vapour or as a heat-transfer cylinder which ineludes the heat source, the collector in this case.
  • the condensedvapour drops back to the bottom of the cylinder under gravity, the assembly being vertically arranged for the purpose.
  • a second cylinder 7 concentric with that referenced directs the condensed vapour towards the mass of boiling liquid.
  • This cylinder illustrated in the example of the figure as a continuous metal surface, could equally well take the form of a mesh or grid; such a grid is shown in FIG. 6 in which it can be seen a part of FIG. 1, i.e. part of the cylinder 5, equipped with the fins 6, the mass of liquid 4 occupying the bottom end of the cylinder 5 and the grid 70, cylindrically shaped.
  • the grid 70 (FIG. 6) or the cylinder 7 consisting of a continuous metal surface (FIG. 1) constitutes a kind of wick the structure of which, within the context of the present invention, can take a variety of forms in order to produce this directing function. Screws 8 enable the wick 7 to be maintained in position in relation to the cylinder 5.
  • a device of this kind has been produced in a slightly different form from that utilised above, for a tube operating in the Ku band (16 gigacycles).
  • the tube in question produced an output power arranging between 1 and 2 kilowatts at this frequency, for an input power of some 20 kilowatts.
  • the approximate calculation made in respect of this tube, is given herebelow.
  • the collector took the form of a hollow metal body, the cavity in fact taking the form of a cylinder about 8 cm high and 12 mm in diameter, whilst the external dimensions of the collector were those of a cylinder having a diameter of 60 mm and a height of 9 cm.
  • This collector was externally machined under the usual conditions specified in the Patentsreferred to hereinbefore, in order to enable evaporation cooling to take place under the vapotron system disclosed in these Patents. This kind of machining is not illustrated in detail, since it is a prior art, in the figures illustrating this kind of collector.
  • the electron beam can be seen, the area covered with dots, reaching the collector at the end of its trajectory.
  • this beam assumed to be cylindrical, flares in the collector to a diameter D substantially greater than the diameter d which it has prior to reaching the collector.
  • the space available for the beam, within the collector is restricted, and consequently the coolingarea also limited. This is why, even with the aforementioned machining, which ensures an increase in the surface area of the collector, the effective collector area for heat dissipation is still limited, and consequently, the total possible dissipation which can be achievedlikewise.
  • the component 5 was constituted by a hollow copper cylinder 1 mm thick approximately, narrowed at its bottom end and welded at said end to the body of the tube at the baseof the collector; the diameter and height of the non-narrowed portion, were respectively and cm.
  • This cylinder was provided externally with 300 vertical fins 30 cm long, 3 cm wide and 1 mm thick.
  • the cooling airflow was 1,500 m per hour, corresponding to a velocity of 25 m/s.
  • FIG. 1 actually illustrates another equivalent embodiment of the invention, with horizontal fins of which, for reasons of clarity, only a small number have been shown, their spacing not being to scale either.
  • FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a shape, on the part of the component 5, which differs slightly from that shown in FIG. 1 and is chosen in order to still further increase the cooling area offered by the component 5.
  • the arrows illustrate the direction of the forced airflow over the fins.
  • the reference 9 designates communicating passages.
  • the cylinder 5 is evacuated before the tube is put into operation.
  • the vacuum pip not shown, through which evacuation has been carried out, is used as a safety valve.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the tube in accordance with the invention.
  • the element 5 takes the form of a highly flared funnel.
  • the bottom part of the funnel surrounds the collector 3 of the tube and contains the liquid mass 4 which bathes the collector.
  • the funnel is closed off by a plate 51 welded to its cylindrical portion 52.
  • hollow cylinders equipped with vertical fins 61.
  • the vapour coming from the liquid mass 4 flows over the external surfaces of the cylinders 60 whilst the cooling air is injected in the direction of the arrows, between the fins 61.
  • each of the cylinders 60 of stainless steel, had a thickness of approximately 1 mm, equal to that of the portion 50, 52 and 53 constituted in the funnel and of the plate 51, likewise of stainless steel; each cylinder 60 had an internal diameter of 12 cm, and had fins 1 mm thick and 4 cm wide. For the same reasons of clarity, these fins have not been illustrated to scale and their number has been reduced to just a few units, in the drawing of FIG. 4.
  • These fins were integral with a central core 62; they were produced either by casting or by machining from a block and welded over their full height, using a known technique with an appropriate flux, to the cylinder 60 which itself is subsequently welded, by the argon-arc process, at both its ends and over the whole circumference, to the plate 51 on the one hand and to the flared portion 53 of the funnel on the other.
  • the welding of the fins 61 to the cylinder 60 is visible at 71 in the figure, whilst the welds referred to earlier are respectively and partially illustrated by 70 and 72.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the tube in accordance with the invention.
  • the component 5 has the same form, namely that of a cylinder narrowed at its bottom end, as in the example of FIG. 1.
  • similar reference designate similar elements to those so marked in FIG. 1; there can also be seen a component 70 made of a material having good thermal conductivity, which enshrouds the cylinder 5 and is held in heat transfering contact therewith by an intermediate component 71.
  • This component can for example be a layer of weld (solder) which ensures that the components 70 and 71 are in contact with each other over the whole of their mutually opposite surfaces.
  • a solid component 72 of large dimensions which, because of the magnitude of these dimensions, could not be illustrated in full at the scale of the drawing, but which is in contact with the component 70 over part of the latters area.
  • the component 72 is fitted and welded at 73 (thick line) to the top end of the component 70.
  • the dissipation of the heat is effected by conduction with the component 72 which is held in contact with the cooling fluid either directly or through the medium of a large-area element which is itself in contact with the fluid.
  • the example shown in FIG. 5 relates to the first of these two possibilities.
  • the cooling fluid has not been shown.
  • the fluid may, depending upon circumstances, be either a liquid or a gas.
  • An electronic tube comprising a collector, an electron beam producing an impact on said collector, and a mass of liquid in contact with said collector and raised to the boiling point by the thermal energy resulting from said impact, said electronic tube occupying a vertical position with the collector at the top, said mass of liquid occupying partially the interior volume of a closed envelope comprising a hollow cylinder closed at the top end of said tube, the liquid mass within which occupies the internal volume at the other end, over a fraction of the height, the interior surface of said envelope being made by at least a fraction of the exterior surface of the collector, the fraction of said volume not occupied by the liquid containing only the vapour of said liquid, said envelope being exposed to a cooling fluid, a wick being arranged inside said volume, which channels towards said liquid mass, the vapour condensed in that fraction of said volume not occupied by the liquid.
  • An electronic assembly comprising: an electronic tube having a collector and means to produce an electron beam to impact on said collector; a closed envelope comprising a hollow member supported on said electronic tube, said collector extending into the bottom end of said hollow member, said electronic tube and said envelope occupying a vertical position; a mass of liquid within said envelope and in contact with said collector, said mass ofliquid occupying partially the interior volume of said closed envelope at the end of said envelope opposite the closed top end; the portion of said volume not occupied by the liquid containing only the vapor of said liquid; and wick means disposed within said envelope to channel the condensed vapor toward said liquid mass at the bottom of said envelope.

Landscapes

  • Microwave Tubes (AREA)
  • Common Detailed Techniques For Electron Tubes Or Discharge Tubes (AREA)
  • Cooling Or The Like Of Semiconductors Or Solid State Devices (AREA)
  • Lasers (AREA)
US359216A 1972-05-16 1973-05-11 High-power electronic tube, in particular a microwave tube with improved cooling Expired - Lifetime US3859551A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR7217440A FR2184420B1 (cs) 1972-05-16 1972-05-16

Publications (1)

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US3859551A true US3859551A (en) 1975-01-07

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Country Status (5)

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US (1) US3859551A (cs)
JP (1) JPS4956578A (cs)
DE (1) DE2324738A1 (cs)
FR (1) FR2184420B1 (cs)
GB (1) GB1437265A (cs)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3986063A (en) * 1975-06-27 1976-10-12 Shigeru Suga Carbon arc lamp provided with means to prevent ash deposition
US20110193479A1 (en) * 2010-02-08 2011-08-11 Nilssen Ole K Evaporation Cooled Lamp

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2922608C2 (de) * 1979-06-02 1982-02-25 Kernforschungsanlage Jülich GmbH, 5170 Jülich Spallationsquellentargets, Verfahren zu deren Kühlung und Verwendung

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3444419A (en) * 1967-02-21 1969-05-13 Hughes Aircraft Co Evaporatively cooled traveling-wave tube

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3444419A (en) * 1967-02-21 1969-05-13 Hughes Aircraft Co Evaporatively cooled traveling-wave tube

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3986063A (en) * 1975-06-27 1976-10-12 Shigeru Suga Carbon arc lamp provided with means to prevent ash deposition
US20110193479A1 (en) * 2010-02-08 2011-08-11 Nilssen Ole K Evaporation Cooled Lamp

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2184420A1 (cs) 1973-12-28
DE2324738A1 (de) 1973-11-29
FR2184420B1 (cs) 1980-03-14
JPS4956578A (cs) 1974-06-01
GB1437265A (en) 1976-05-26

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