JPH07103506A - Air-conditioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the whole body of an air-conditioning device compact and light-weight and eliminate a vibration, and in addition, easily change the heat- exchanging capacity of an air cooling dehumidifier. CONSTITUTION:An air cooling dehumidifier 1 is arranged at a location at where a condensed water does not drop at an air blowing out port of an air channel 5. At the same time, an air conditioning device is equipped with a refrigerant circuit 7 of the air cooling dehumidifier 1, an endothermic passage 10 which is constituted in such a manner that respective passages of a plurality of exhaust heat plates with a fluid passage are made to communicate with each other and laminated, and an exhaust heat passage 11 which is constituted in such a manner that respective passages of a plurality of endothermic plates with a fluid passage are made to communicate with each other and laminated. Then, the refrigerant circuit 7 is connected to the endothermic passage 10 of a fluid- fluid heat-exchanger 9, which consists of the endothermic passage 10, exhaust heat passage 11 and a Peltier element 12 being inserted between respective endothermic plates and exhaust heat plates of the endothermic passage 10 and exhaust heat passage 11, and a cooling water circuit 20 is connected to the exhaust heat passage 11 of the fluid-fluid heat-exchanger 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a working portion (hereinafter referred to as a cup) of a so-called spin coating apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a spin coater) for coating a surface of a semiconductor or glass substrate with a chemical while rotating the surface. ) To an air conditioner that supplies super-constant temperature and humidity air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air conditioner of this type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-1113 (resist processing apparatus) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-1
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 39345 (a method and apparatus for supplying constant temperature and constant humidity air). In the former conventional example, an air cooling dehumidifier that cools intake air to dehumidify it, and a heater that heats the air dehumidified by the air cooling dehumidifier to a predetermined temperature. ,further,
It consists of a humidifier that humidifies this air to a predetermined humidity, and a compression refrigerator is used for this air cooling dehumidifier, and the compressed refrigerant passes through a pipe having fins and contacts the fins. The air is cooled to dehumidify it.

On the other hand, in the latter of the above-mentioned conventional examples, a humidifier for humidifying the intake air to a predetermined humidity, an air cooling dehumidifier for cooling the air to dehumidify it, and an air whose humidity has been adjusted are predetermined. It consists of a heater that heats up to the temperature of the above and a blower that sends air to these.The air conditioner of this is an air cooling dehumidifier and a humidifier, so it is installed in a clean room separately from the spin coater. It is used to supply super constant temperature and constant humidity air into the cup through a heat insulating duct or the like.

[0004]

The former of the above-mentioned conventional examples has a problem that the dehumidifier is large and heavy, which causes a problem that the size of the entire air conditioner is also increased. . Moreover, since the air conditioning processing capacity of the device cannot be adjusted, the wind tunnel cross-sectional area had to be changed in order to force adjustment. Furthermore, since the dehumidifier of the above device used a compressor, there was vibration,
There is also a problem that a measure is required to avoid the influence on the coating such as the resist.

On the other hand, in the latter case of the above-mentioned conventional example, when the air conditioner is used, thermal disturbance is introduced into the heat insulating duct, and it is difficult to control the temperature and humidity with high accuracy. Further, the spin coater tends to increase in size as the function thereof becomes higher, and the duct connecting the air conditioner and the cup tends to become longer, and there is concern that the accuracy of temperature control and humidity control may deteriorate. Further, the floor area occupied by the air conditioner in the clean room is also required to be reduced because the clean room maintenance cost is high.

In order to solve these problems, the air conditioner is downsized and installed directly above the cup of the spin coater, the heat insulating duct connecting the air conditioner and the cup is eliminated, and the floor area of the air conditioner is eliminated. good. In this respect, the former Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-11 mentioned above as the conventional example.
The idea can be seen in the "resist processing apparatus" shown in Japanese Patent No. 13 publication.

In this case, however, since the vertical laminar flow is introduced just above the cup to dehumidify, the condensed water falls on the wafer and is not practical. Also, the dehumidified air is humidified by a humidifier directly below it and then heated by a heat exchanger underneath it, but the dehumidification efficiency deteriorates due to radiant heat etc. because there is a cooler directly above the heater. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to prevent condensed water from dripping from the air outlet of the wind tunnel, and to reduce the size and weight as compared with the conventional compressor / refrigerator. In addition to being able to reduce the vibration, it is possible to heat-efficiently air-condition and realize ultra-precision air-conditioning, and it is possible to easily change the capacity of the heat exchanger, and also to easily perform maintenance. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner configured as described above.

In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioner according to the present invention is provided with a blower 4, a heater 3 and a humidifier 2 in a wind tunnel 5.
And an air-cooling dehumidifier 1 using an air-fluid heat exchanger 6 as an interior, in the air-cooling dehumidifier 1
Is arranged at a position where condensed water does not drip into the air outlet 5a of the wind tunnel 5.

The wind tunnel 5 is bent so that the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 and the heater 2 are arranged so as not to face each other in the wind tunnel 5, and the heat absorption passage 10 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 is arranged. The exhaust heat passage 11 is laminated so that the passages 14 and 18 are orthogonal to each other or parallel to each other, and a Peltier element 12 is interposed between the passages 10 and 11.

[0011]

[Operation] The air blown by the blower 4 is dehumidified by the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, heated by the heater 2, and heated by the humidifier 3.
Is humidified and air-conditioned to a predetermined temperature and humidity, and the dew condensation water at this time does not drip into the air outlet 5a of the wind tunnel 5. In the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, while the refrigerant that has absorbed heat and has increased in temperature passes through the heat absorption passage 10 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9,
The cooling water flowing through the exhaust heat passage 11 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 is exhausted and cooled. The heat exchange between the heat absorption passage 10 and the exhaust heat passage 11 is performed by a Peltier element 12 interposed therebetween.
Through.

At this time, the air cooling device 1 is less affected by the radiation from the heater 2 and the dehumidifying effect is prevented from being lowered. Further, in the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9, the refrigerant flowing inside the fluid and the cooling water are orthogonal or opposite to each other,
Heat is exchanged efficiently.

[0013]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an air cooling dehumidifier, 2 is a heater, 3 is a humidifier, 4 is a blower, and these are bent wind tunnels. 5, which are arranged in series, are cooled and dehumidified while the air sucked by the blower 4 passes through the cooling and dehumidifying machine 1, and then the heating machine 2
Is heated by the humidifier 3 to a desired temperature / humidity, and passes through a filter 4a such as a ULPA filter disposed on the downstream side of the blower 4 to remove dust and rectify the working portion such as a spin coater. It is designed to air-condition (cups, etc.).

The air-cooling dehumidifier 1 and the heater 2 are arranged on both sides of the bent portion of the wind tunnel 5 so that their opposing surfaces do not face each other, and the air passing therethrough is The distribution direction forms an angle.

The air-cooling dehumidifier 1 is arranged at a position laterally offset from the air outlet 5a so that the water droplets condensed on the air-dehumidifier 1 do not drip onto the air outlet 5a of the wind tunnel 5.

In order to realize ultra-high-precision air conditioning of ± 0.01 ° C. and to freely change the air-conditioning air amount, the blower 4 is equipped with a rotation speed servo mechanism and the amount of air to be processed is used. Was quantified.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 has a structure in which an air-fluid heat exchanger 6 through which a refrigerant (cooling medium) flows is arranged in a wind tunnel 5. 5
The air passing therethrough is cooled by coming into contact with the outer surface of the air-fluid heat exchanger 6. The refrigerant inlet 6a of the air-fluid heat exchanger 6 is provided on the downstream side with respect to the flow of wind, and the refrigerant outlet 6b is provided on the upstream side. Is designed to flow from the downstream side to the upstream side of the wind flowing through the air-fluid heat exchanger 6. Refrigerant inflow / outflow port 6
a and 6b are fluids via a cooling circuit 7 having a pump 8.
It is connected to the fluid heat exchanger 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 has a structure in which a heat absorption passage 10 through which a refrigerant flows and an exhaust heat passage 11 through which cooling water passes are laminated via a Peltier element 12. The flow directions of the refrigerant and the cooling water in the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 may be counter flows as shown in FIG. 2 or may be intersected as in a specific configuration example described later. A heat absorption passage 10 and an exhaust heat passage 11 are arranged.

3 to 6 show the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 described above.
The specific configuration of is shown. It should be noted that in this configuration, the refrigerant and the cooling water are allowed to flow in a direction intersecting with each other so that the heat absorption passage 1
0 and the exhaust heat passage 11 are alternately laminated via the Peltier element 12.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 and FIG. 4 is a front view thereof. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a portion of the heat absorption passage 10, and FIG. 6 shows a sectional shape taken along the line BB of FIG. 3, thereby showing a portion of the heat exhaust passage 11.

The endothermic passage 10 shown in FIG. 5 is composed of inlet / outlet endothermic plates 13a, 13b located at both ends and a plurality of intermediate endothermic plates 13c stacked between them, and each endothermic plate 13a, 13b is provided. , 13c, passages 14 are provided in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction. And each heat absorbing plate 13a,
The passages 14 of 13b and 13c are connected to each other by joint members 15a and 15b on both sides thereof, and the inlet / outlet joints connected to one side of the passages 14 are connected to the inlet / outlet heat absorbing plates 13a and 13b. 16a and 16b are connected.

In the joint members 15a and 15b, the joint member 15a located on the upstream side in the refrigerant inflow direction of each of the heat absorbing plates 13a, 13b and 13c has a partition plate 15c in the middle thereof and is closed. And the joint member 15b located on the downstream side is open,
The refrigerant that has flowed in through the inlet joint 16a is transferred to each of the heat absorbing plates 13a, 1a.
It is configured to flow in a zigzag shape through 3b and 13c and be guided to the outlet joint 16b.

On the other hand, the exhaust heat passage 11 shown in FIG. 6 is composed of inlet / outlet exhaust heat plates 17a and 17b located at both ends, and a plurality of intermediate heat exhaust plates 17c stacked between them.
A passage 18 is provided in each of the heat exhaust plates 17a, 17b, 17c in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction. And each heat exhaust plate 17
Like the passages 14 of the heat absorbing plates 13a, 13b, 13c of the heat absorbing passage 10, the passages 18a, 17b, 17c connect the joint member 15a having the partition plate 15c and the opened joint 15b to the flow of the cooling water. Are alternately connected to each other, and this cooling water is supplied to each heat exhaust plate 17a, 17b,
17c flows in a zigzag shape. The passages 1 are connected to the inlet / outlet heat exhaust plates 17a and 17b, which are connected to each other by the joint members 15 at both ends.
The inlet / outlet joints 19a and 19b communicating with one end of 8 are connected.

Each heat absorbing plate 13 constituting the heat absorbing passage 10
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a, 13b, and 13c are laminated by interposing the Peltier element 12 between the heat exhaust plates 17a, 17b, and 17c that form the exhaust heat passage 11, and are joined by bolts. It is supposed to be done. Then, the inlet / outlet joints 16a of the heat absorbing plates 13a, 13b for both entrances and exits of the heat absorbing passage 10,
The refrigerant circuit 7 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to 16b, and the cooling water circuit 20 is connected to the inlet / outlet joints 19a, 19b of the exhaust heat plates 17a, 17b for both inlets and outlets of the exhaust heat passage 11. An antifreeze liquid is used for the refrigerant circuit 7.

Each of the Peltier elements 12 is connected to a control device 21. By energizing through the control device 21, heat is absorbed from the heat absorbing plates 13a, 13b, 13c side and the heat discharging plates 17a, 17b, Heat is exhausted to the 17c side.

In the fluid-fluid heat exchanger configured as described above,
The refrigerant whose temperature is increased by absorbing heat while passing through the heat exchanger 6 in the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 is the heat-absorbing passage 10 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9.
And is cooled by the heat absorbing action of the Peltier element 12 in contact with the heat absorbing plates 13a, 13b, 13c constituting the heat absorbing passage 10 during this period.

On the other hand, cooling water is circulated in the exhaust heat passage 11 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9, and the exhaust heat plates 17a, 17b, 17c constituting the exhaust heat passage 11 serve to remove the Peltier element 12 from each other. Exhaust heat by the exhaust heat effect.

A temperature / humidity sensor 22 for detecting the temperature / humidity of the outlet air is provided on the outlet side of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1. Based on the detected value of the temperature / humidity sensor 22, the control device 2 is operated.
1, the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9, the heater 2, the humidifier 3
To control. Intermediate heat absorbing plate 13c forming both passages 10 and 11 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9.
The heat exhaust plate 17c has the same shape and is a common component.
The heat absorbing plate 13c and the heat exhausting plate 17c for each intermediate can be increased / decreased by the same number, whereby the heat exchange capacity of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 is adjusted.

In the above structure, the air blown by the blower 4 is dehumidified by the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 to a predetermined absolute humidity, heated by the heater 2 and humidified by the humidifier 3 to obtain a desired amount. Air-conditioned to temperature and humidity. At this time, the water droplets that have condensed on the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 do not drop on the portion of the wind tunnel 5 other than the air outlet 5a, and the water droplets do not drop from the air outlet 5a. The temperature and humidity of the conditioned air is detected by the temperature and humidity sensor 22 installed near the air outlet 5a. If there is a deviation between the detected value and the desired temperature and humidity, the control device At 21, the temperature and humidity are controlled by increasing or decreasing the operation amount of the heater 2 or the humidifier 3.

Although not shown, a temperature / humidity sensor is also provided on the inlet side of the wind tunnel 5, and the dew point temperature calculated from the temperature / humidity of the inlet air and the absolute humidity calculated from the temperature / humidity of the desired discharge air. The most efficient dehumidification control may be automatically performed as compared with.

The thus optimally dehumidified air is guided to the heater 2 and heated to a predetermined temperature, and further humidified by the humidifier 3 to a desired humidity. This air is blown out by the blower 4, but the air blowout port 5 of the wind tunnel 5
When the a side has a funnel shape as shown in FIG. 1, it is expanded at this portion.

The air sent out is the air outlet 5a.
The temperature and humidity are detected by the temperature and humidity sensor 22 provided on the side, and the temperature and humidity are controlled with an error of ± 0.01 ° C. and ± 0.1% RH by controlling the heater 2 and the humidifier 3 according to the detected values. To be done.

In the above operation, since the air cooling dehumidifier 1 and the heater 2 do not face each other, the air cooling dehumidifier 1 can reduce the influence of the radiant heat from the heater 2. .

In the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, since the flow direction of the refrigerant flowing through the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 is opposite to the flow of air passing through the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, the temperature rise of the refrigerant can be increased. The heat exchange efficiency between the refrigerant and the air is also improved.

As described above, the refrigerant that has absorbed heat in the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 and has been raised in temperature is discharged to the cooling water side by the endothermic action of the Peltier element 12 while passing through the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9. However, at this time, the respective flow directions of the refrigerant and the cooling water in the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 are opposite to each other or intersect as shown in the above embodiment, so that the Peltier element 1
The operating point of No. 2 is set to high efficiency, and heat is efficiently transferred from the refrigerant to the cooling water.

The highly efficient operation of the Peltier device 12 at this time will be described with reference to FIG. In the diagram of FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents the temperature difference ΔT between the heat absorption surface and the heat dissipation surface of the Peltier element, that is, the temperature difference between the refrigerant and the cooling water, and the vertical axis represents the heat absorption amount Qc of the Peltier element.
Represents From this diagram, it can be seen that the larger the temperature difference ΔT, the smaller the heat absorption amount Qc. If the temperature of the coolant and the temperature of the cooling water are determined, it is easy to think that ΔT is constant, but it is not so. The 0 ° C. refrigerant cooled by the Peltier element 12 via the heat absorbing plate 10 absorbs heat from the sucked air when passing through the air cooling / dehumidifying machine 1 and its temperature rises to, for example, 10 ° C. When returning to, the arithmetic mean temperature of the endothermic surface becomes 5 ° C, and the temperature of the cooling water is, for example, 20 ° C.
If the temperature is ° C, the temperature difference ΔT is 15 ° C. Since the temperature rise changes depending on how the refrigerant flows into the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, the temperature difference ΔT of the peltier element 12 can also be changed. Actually, the temperature of the cooling water also rises, so the temperature difference ΔT should be calculated by the logarithmic average temperature difference, but the point that the average temperature difference ΔT can be changed is the same. That is, in the air-cooling dehumidifier 1, the air and the refrigerant are arranged so as to be in counterflow, and the flow rate of the refrigerant is reduced. Further, in the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 as well, the cooling water and the refrigerant are made to flow in opposite directions, and the temperature difference ΔT (average temperature difference) between the heat absorbing surface and the heat radiating surface of the Peltier element can be reduced.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger, which is a heat exchange system in which a heat absorbing plate 13c is laminated between a pair of heat discharging plates 17a and 17b with a Peltier element 12 interposed therebetween. Using a plurality of units 23, the refrigerant supplied by the pump 8 is made to flow in series to the heat absorbing plate 13c of each heat exchange unit 23, and the cooling water is parallel to both heat exhaust plates 17a and 17b of each heat exchange unit 23. The heat exchange units 23 flow directly to each other.

FIG. 9 shows another example of the overall structure 4, in which the suction port 56 of the wind tunnel 5 is directed downward.

[0039]

According to the present invention, dew condensation water in the air conditioner does not drip from the air outlet 5a of the wind tunnel 5. In addition, the heat exchanger for exhausting the heat absorbed by the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 can be made smaller and lighter than that using a conventional compression refrigerator, and vibration can be eliminated. You can Moreover, the efficiency is the highest among the methods using the Peltier device, and this makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the entire air conditioner. In addition to being able to separate the condensed water discharged during air conditioning from the air, ultra-precision air conditioning can be realized because the air conditioning device can be installed directly above the work unit such as the spin coating device, and the floor surface of an expensive clean room can be realized. It doesn't occupy either. Further, the capacity of this heat exchanger can be easily changed by increasing or decreasing the number of the heat absorbing plate, the heat exhausting plate and the Peltier element 12, whereby the air treatment capacity of the air cooling dehumidifier 1 can be improved. It can be easily adjusted without changing the wind tunnel cross-sectional area. Further, since the air-fluid heat exchanger 6 and the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 are separated, maintenance of the air conditioner becomes easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration explanatory view of a fluid-fluid heat exchanger connected to an air cooling dehumidifier used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a fluid-fluid heat exchanger used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a fluid-fluid heat exchanger used in an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional arrow view taken along the line AA of FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional arrow view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing characteristics of a Peltier device.

FIG. 8 is a structural explanatory view showing another example of a fluid-fluid heat exchanger.

FIG. 9 is an overall configuration diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air cooling dehumidifier, 2 ... Heating machine, 3 ... Humidifier, 4 ... Blower, 4a ... Filter, 5 ... Wind tunnel, 5a ... Air outlet, 6 ... Air-fluid heat exchanger, 7 ... Refrigerant circuit, 8 ... Pump, 9 ... Fluid-fluid heat exchanger, 10 ... Endothermic passage, 11 ...
Exhaust heat passage, 12 ... Peltier element, 13a, 13b ... Heat inlet / outlet heat absorbing plate, 13c ... Intermediate heat absorbing plate, 14, 18 ... Fluid passage, 15 ... Joint member, 16a, 16b, 19
a, 19b ... inlet / outlet joint, 17a, 17b ... inlet / outlet heat exhaust plate, 17c ... intermediate heat exhaust plate, 20 ... cooling water circuit, 21
... control device, 22 ... temperature and humidity sensor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuo Tako, 1200 Manda, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Komatsu Seisakusho Laboratory (72) Inventor, Toshihiko Matsumoto 1200, Manda, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa, Ltd. Komatsu Seisakusho, Ltd. ( 72) Inventor Genichiro Watanabe 1200 Manda, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa, Komatsu Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshihide Imamura 1200, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Komatsu Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An air cooling dehumidifier 1 using a blower 4, a heater 3, a humidifier 2 and an air-fluid heat exchanger 6 in a wind tunnel 5.
An air conditioner in which the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 is arranged at a position where condensed water does not drip into the air outlet 5a of the wind tunnel 5. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the wind tunnel 5 is bent so that the air-cooling dehumidifier 1 and the heater 2 are arranged so as not to face each other in the wind tunnel 5. 3. The heat absorption passage 10 and the exhaust heat passage 11 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 are stacked so that the passages 14 and 18 are orthogonal to each other, and the heat absorption passage 10 and the exhaust heat passage 11 are arranged.
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a Peltier element 12 is interposed between the air conditioners. 4. The heat-exhaust passage 10 and the heat-absorbing passage 11 of the fluid-fluid heat exchanger 9 are stacked so that the passages 14 and 18 are parallel to each other.
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a Peltier element 12 is provided between the air conditioners.