Automated CO2 cleaning system for the SALT primary mirror

Herman Kriel; Ockert Strydom; Charl du Plessis; Hitesh Gajjar

doi:10.1117/12.787781

23 July 2008 Automated CO₂ cleaning system for the SALT primary mirror

Herman Kriel, Ockert Strydom, Charl du Plessis, Hitesh Gajjar

Proceedings Volume 7018, Advanced Optical and Mechanical Technologies in Telescopes and Instrumentation; 70181P (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787781
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

SALT developed an automated CO₂ Mirror Cleaning System (MCS) for its 11 meter diameter segmented primary mirror. In this paper we report on the mechanical design of the system, the safety considerations taken into account given that the mechanism has to be lowered over the primary mirror for every cleaning cycle, the computerized control system and the CO₂ installation which feeds the cleaning wand with liquid CO₂. The paper also addresses the complexities experienced in providing high pressure liquid CO₂ for the effective operation of the cleaning wand as well as the safety precautions implemented to ensure the safety of staff members at all times. The performance results are also presented although the system is still being optimised in a trade off between cleaning efficiency, CO₂ consumption, the duration of a cleaning cycle and the cleaning frequency.

Citation Download Citation

Herman Kriel, Ockert Strydom, Charl du Plessis, and Hitesh Gajjar "Automated CO₂ cleaning system for the SALT primary mirror", Proc. SPIE 7018, Advanced Optical and Mechanical Technologies in Telescopes and Instrumentation, 70181P (23 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787781

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