Energy savings by air coil efficiency improvement

Deschenes, Stephen; Bernard, Ron; Galbreath, L Gregg
(Nalco Company, Naperville, IL)

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Energy savings by air coil efficiency improvement Stephen Deschenes, Ron Bernard, Gregg Galbreath, Brian Jenkins, Nalco Company The primary heat transfer surfaces between the air inside a fab (semiconductor fabrication facility) and the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system are the air cooling and heating coils. Consistent climate control is critical to a fab’s reliable manufacturing environment. Air cooling coils are also a large consumer of fab electrical & fossil energy; yet often times, these systems’ cleanliness receives a lower priority due to competing maintenance tasks, or, the tools available to clean the systems are not effective. Most major semiconductor companies have goals for continuous improvement in energy operations. In the example cited in this presentation, a large semiconductor manufacturer, seeing the potential savings opportunity, worked with Nalco to implement an HVAC Performance Improvement program. Working together, Nalco and the fab obtained baseline data, and then Nalco cleaned and disinfected the air handler coils and associated drain pans. After the work was completed, performance measurements were taken to validate the efficiency improvements in the HVAC systems. The average heat transfer efficiency improvement was 11.5%, and the fan energy saved was 194.8 amps enabling the fab to pay for all of the program costs via reduced energy costs in just over 13 months. Associated with improvements in heat transfer, chilled water & heating water flow requirements to the air coils were also reduced. The paper discusses a range of cleaning methods, and reviews in detail the approach used by Nalco at the fab. Fan energy data as well as details on thermal energy savings calculations are also presented. Future savings potential is discussed, as well.

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