Heliumläckageteknik

Heliumläckageteknik, often referred to as helium leak detection, is a method used to find leaks in sealed systems. This technique is widely employed in various industries, including vacuum technology, automotive, aerospace, and medical device manufacturing, where maintaining a leak-tight seal is critical for performance and safety.

The principle behind helium leak detection involves introducing helium gas into a system that is suspected of having a leak. Helium is chosen because it is an inert, non-toxic, and readily available gas with very small atomic size, allowing it to escape through even microscopic openings. Once the helium is introduced, a specialized detector, typically a mass spectrometer, is used to sample the external environment around the system. The mass spectrometer is tuned to specifically detect helium atoms. If helium is found by the detector, it indicates that the gas has escaped from the system, pinpointing the location of the leak.

There are two main approaches to helium leak detection: vacuum leak detection and sniffing. In vacuum leak detection, the system is evacuated, and helium is applied to the exterior. The detector, located inside the vacuum chamber, senses the helium that enters. In the sniffing method, helium is introduced into the pressurized system, and the detector (the "sniffer") is moved along the exterior welds and joints to search for escaping helium. The sensitivity of helium leak detection is very high, capable of detecting leaks as small as 10^-12 mbar*l/s, making it an indispensable tool for quality control and integrity testing.