JPH03263541A - Clean-air room - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To minimize operation of an air-conditioner to save energy by a method wherein the operating status of an apparatus is measured according to power consumption, and an air flow control valve is modulated according to the measured result. CONSTITUTION:The heat generation rate of an apparatus 20 is measured as an electric energy value by a wat-hour meter 40, and a controller 42 controls the lift of an air flow control valve 36 corresponding to the measured value. When a large amount of ventilation is required, the outside air is correspondingly introduced and supplied into a room after humidified or dehumidified by an air-conditioner 38 to meet the room temperature and humidity conditions. As the room still contains heat when the heat generation rate of the apparatus 20 is particularly large, a portion of air in the room is returned to the air- conditioner 38 through a ventilation duct 34, and the mixed air is supplied into the room after cooled below the dew point by the air-conditioner 38. When the circulation air flow rate is too high, the whole air including the outside air must be cooled below the dew point and then heated again. Therefore, an optimum circulation air flow is returned from the air flow control valve 36 so that air can be supplied at the dew point, avoiding unnecessary heating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an air cleaning chamber used for semiconductor manufacturing, and particularly to an air cleaning chamber suitable for saving energy.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in semiconductor manufacturing sites such as ■C, air cleaning rooms (clean rooms) are used to reduce the concentration of airborne dust in the working environment and to maintain constant temperature and humidity in the environment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional air cleaning chamber.

A plurality of circulation fans 12 are installed on the ceiling of the sealed case 10.
are disposed within the fan filter unit 14, and a high performance filter (HEPA) 16 is disposed below each of them. Since the fan filter unit 14 is open on only one side of the ceiling and the other side is in close contact with the side wall surface, a ceiling duct 18 is formed between the fan filter unit 14 and the ceiling surface.

A device 20 (semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc.) is disposed below the high-performance filter 16, and an open floor 22 in which numerous small openings are provided is provided on the bottom surface of the device 20. Between this open floor 22 and the floor surface, there is an underfloor duct 2.
4 is formed.

A partition wall 2 is provided on the opening side of the fan filter unit 14.
6 hangs down so as to be connected to the side edge of the open floor 22, and an indoor temperature sensor 28 is installed on the inner surface of this partition wall 26. Further, a circulation duct 30 is formed between the partition wall 26 and the inner wall of the housing 10.

An exhaust fan 32 is disposed near the floor of the housing wall in contact with the circulation duct 30, and a return air duct 34 is installed horizontally above the exhaust fan 32, and an air volume adjustment valve 36 is provided inside the return air duct 34 closer to the room. is installed.

An air conditioner 38 is installed above the air volume adjustment valve 36, and its inlet communicates with the return air duct 34 on the outlet side of the air volume adjustment valve 36. Further, the outlet side of the air conditioner 38 communicates with the upper case wall of the ventilation duct 30.

In the above configuration, the air conditioner 38 takes in outside air and return air from the air volume adjustment valve 36, and supplies air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted into the housing 10. A part of it flows into the attic duct 18 and the other part flows into the return air duct 30. The conditioned air that has flowed into the attic duct 18 is forcibly sent to the high-performance filter 16 by the circulation fan 12, and the air from which dust has been removed descends toward the open floor 22.

The dust-removed air from the high-performance filter 16 passes through the opening in the open floor 22 and flows into the underfloor duct 24 , a portion of which is exhausted outside by the exhaust fan 32 , and the rest of the air is sucked into the air volume adjustment valve 36 . On the other hand, part of the air that has descended through the circulation duct) 30 flows into the air volume adjustment valve 36, and the rest flows into the exhaust fan 32.
flows into.

The air that has passed through the air volume adjustment valve 36 contributes to quickly dehumidifying or humidifying the air conditioner 38.

Note that the air conditioner 38 controls cooling (23°C, 45% dew point temperature of 10°C) when moisture content is higher than indoor conditions (for example, 23°C, 45%).
dehumidify (cool down to 100°C), and humidify if the moisture content is low. Thereafter, air is supplied after being reheated to an appropriate temperature based on the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor in response to the heat generated by equipment, lighting fixtures, circulation fans, workers, and the like.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional air purification room mentioned above, the air conditioner cools a large amount of air to 10 degrees Celsius and then heats it before supplying the air, which forces unnecessary operations on the air returned from the room. It turns out. Furthermore, since more air than necessary is returned to the air conditioner and supplied to the attic duct, the blowing power of the fan increases. Furthermore, since a large amount of air flows into the ventilation duct, vibrations and noise become large. This is a particularly important problem on semiconductor manufacturing lines.

The object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned actual state of the prior art, and is to provide an air cleaning room in which the operation of an air conditioner is minimized and energy-saving operation is possible.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an air conditioner that supplies conditioned clean air to an isolated area of equipment installed indoors, and an air conditioner that supplies outside air to the room. In an air cleaning room equipped with an air volume adjustment valve that mixes return air from the equipment, a power consumption meter that measures the power consumption of the equipment, and a control that controls the air volume adjustment valve based on the output of the power consumption meter. The structure is equipped with a device.

[For production]

According to the above-mentioned means, the operating state of the equipment that has the greatest influence on the amount of heat generated in the room is measured based on the power consumption, and the air volume regulating valve is controlled based on this.

Since indoor heat generation is proportional to power consumption, it is easy to control. This makes it possible to reduce the operation of the air conditioner to the minimum necessary and to save energy.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, in Fig. 1, the same things as in Fig. 3 are as follows.
Since the same reference numbers have been used, duplicate explanations will be omitted below.

As shown in FIG. 1, a power consumption meter 40 for reading the operating state is connected to the equipment 20.
A control device 42 that controls the air volume adjustment valve 36 is connected to the airflow control valve 36 .

Most of the indoor heat generation is generated from the equipment 20, circulation fan 12, workers, lighting equipment (not shown), and the like. Of these, it is the equipment 20 that is actually used to produce the product that changes. In order to grasp the operating state of this device 20, its power consumption is most suitable, and the amount of heat generated is proportional to the power consumption.

Focusing on this point, the present invention detects the amount of heat generated as a power value using the power consumption meter 40, and controls the valve opening degree of the air volume adjustment valve 36 using the control device 42 in accordance with this detected value. The operation of the present invention will be further explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between indoor heat generation and air conditioning cost.

When the equipment 20 is used for semiconductor manufacturing, large amounts of special gases and chemicals are used, and a large amount of exhaust is required to prevent leakage into the room and diffusion of chemical vapors. Also,
To prevent dust contamination, dust-laden air around dust-generating equipment is exhausted. Alternatively, in order to prevent dust from entering from outside, a positive pressure is always maintained inside the room relative to the outside air.

For this reason, it has become essential to exhaust a large amount of air. Accordingly, outside air is introduced and air conditioner 3
8, dehumidification or humidification is performed, and air is supplied into the room after adjusting it to indoor temperature and humidity conditions.

In Figure 2, for example, the amount of outside air intake (exhaust air amount)
is 300 m3/min, the indoor heating value is 7 at point A.
．． If it is less than 5 x 10' [K cal/hr), the outside air is cooled to the dew point temperature for dehumidification, only the outside air is heated so that the indoor temperature reaches the set temperature, and this air is supplied into the room.

Indoor heat generation is at point A7. 5 X 10' [K ca
l/hr], only the outside air is cooled to the dew point and then supplied as is. However, if the amount of heat generated is greater than point A, even if only the outside air is cooled to the dew point, the inside of the room still has heat, so a part of the indoor air is returned to the air conditioner 38 via the return air duct 34. After this mixed air is cooled down to the dew point temperature by the air conditioner 38, it is supplied into the room. If the amount of returned air is too large, the entire air combined with the outside air must be cooled to the dew point temperature and then heated again to match the indoor air.

Therefore, by returning the optimal return air volume from the air volume adjustment valve 36, it becomes possible to supply air at the dew point temperature, and unnecessary heating can be avoided. Therefore, energy saving can be achieved by controlling the air volume adjustment valve 36 according to the operating state of the equipment 20 and minimizing the return air volume.

In the above embodiment, the air volume adjustment valve 36 is controlled by detecting the power consumption of the equipment 20, but in addition to this, the blower fan of the air conditioner 38 may be controlled by an inverter or the like. Good too. Or,
A control system may be used in which the output signal of the indoor temperature sensor 28 shown in FIG. 3 is used as a feedback signal.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, air-conditioned air that supplies conditioned clean air to isolated areas of equipment installed indoors, and external air that is supplied to the air conditioner In an air cleaning room equipped with an air volume adjustment valve that mixes return air from the room, a power consumption meter that measures the power consumption of the equipment, and the air volume adjustment valve is controlled based on the output of the power consumption meter. Since a control device is provided, the operation of the air conditioner can be minimized and energy saving can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between indoor heat generation and air conditioning cost, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional air cleaning room. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Housing, 12... Circulation fan, 16... High performance filter, 1... Attic duct, 20... Equipment, 22... Open floor, 24... Underfloor duct , 30
...Circulation duct, 34...Return air duct, 36...
Wind! Regulating valve, 38... Air conditioner, 40... Power consumption meter, 42... Control device. Ganto Hatake Hitachi Plant Construction Co., Ltd. 1 Fig. 1 day 0, 12 degrees of the cabinet to the wound 1, fan 24' under the floor Kuku F 30: r! r tribute 7ri F 20 column 8 KI 22° listening mouth 38: Air u44 Nittei Seisaku Diagram xlO' [kWH/clayl kutoki shoulder zlll included H pull 1 袢 h HA hitting amount] Indoor snoring,! x10' (kca(/hr)

Claims (1)

[Claims] An air conditioner that supplies conditioned clean air to isolated areas of equipment installed indoors, and an air volume adjustment valve that mixes return air from the room with the outside air supplied to the air conditioner. An air cleaning room equipped with the above-mentioned air cleaning room, further comprising: a power consumption meter that measures the power consumption of the equipment; and a control device that controls the air volume adjustment valve based on the output of the power consumption meter. Room.