An experimental study on semiconductor process chiller using the digital scroll compressor

Abstract

This study is about the application of a digital scroll compressor in order to save the energy of a semiconductor process chiller. This study conducted experiments to find characteristics related to the application of a digital scroll compressor to the semiconductor process chiller. In this study, temperature rise and fall experiments designed for rapid response to temperature change and control precision experiments per temperature range depending on the load change were carried out, and then, operational characteristics of each control method were compared with those of the old model. The power consumption and time in the case of temperature rise were 8.36 kW and about 38 min., respectively. The power consumption and time in the case of temperature fall were 5.25 kW and about 27 min., respectively. With regards to control precision based on the bypass of the digital scroll compressor, as the by-pass amount increased, the power consumption of the compressor became less, but the set temperature control was between ±0.1°C and ±0.4°C. As a result of comparing the old model and new model in terms of control precision, the old model’s precision was ±1.5°C and the new model’s precision was ±0.1°C when the temperature was set at 0°C. In addition, with the set temperature of 20°C, the precision of the old model declined to ±1.0°C while the precision of the new model increased to ±0.2°C. It was found that the set temperature increases with a decrease in the power consumption. This study demonstrates that the application of a digital scroll compressor to a semiconductor process chiller is effective, not only in saving energy, but also with improving control precision.