Vacuum equipment, history

Through its committees, divisions, and chapters, the American Vacuum Society has produced a nearly complete bibhography (to 1996) (8), a dictionary of terms (9), a monograph series, and a number of other useful pubHcations (10). Another source of information is the Association of Vacuum Equipment Manufacturers. A history of vacuum ideas and technology development from the Middle Ages to Newton has been given (11). 

Lees (Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2d ed., Butter-worths, London, 1996), BP (Hazards of Trapped Pressure and Vacuum, 2003), and Kletz (What Went Wrong —Case Histories of Process Plant Disaster, Gulf Publishing Company, 1989) include additional case histories providing valuable lessons about how equipment failures and human errors can combine to inflict vacuum damage. 

Answer by Author About 300 panels measuring 30X40 in. were constructed and tested for vacuum stability when used in refrigerator doors. Each panel was equipped with a Pirani-type vacuum gauge. The vacuum history of all these panels was followed for about four years and several of them for 10 years. To our knowledge, there were no instances of vacuum failure. 

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