JPH1130467A - Heat exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the pressure fluctuation of a fluid circulation system and hence to previously prevent various poor influence such as cavitation due to the pressure fluctuation of the fluid circulation system. SOLUTION: A heat exchange system has a temperature system 1 to be controlled for controlling temperature by using a liquid 2 for a heat medium, a heat exchanger 3 for adjusting the temperature of the liquid 2 for the heat medium being discharged from the temperature system to be controlled and supplying the liquid 2 for the heat medium where the temperature has been controlled to the temperature system 1 to be controlled, a circulation pump 10 for circulating the liquid for the heat medium between the temperature system 1 to be controlled and the heat exchanger 3, and piping 6 and 8 for connecting the temperature system 1 to be controlled, the heat exchanger 3, and the circulation pump 10 for circulating the liquid 2 for the heat medium. In the system, the circulation path of the liquid 2 for the heat medium is set to a closed system that is completely separated from fresh air, and at the same time a pressure absorption means 11 for absorbing the pressure fluctuation of the liquid 2 for the heat medium is provided inside the circulation path of the heat medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for transferring a heat medium liquid discharged from a temperature controlled system such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing temperature control using a heat medium liquid. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a heat exchange system having a heat medium liquid circulating system that adjusts the temperature by using the heat exchanger and returns the temperature to the temperature control system again, and particularly relates to an improvement such as preventing cavitation due to a pressure change in the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The temperature of air supplied to a constant temperature chamber, and the temperature of a liquid (heating medium) used for air conditioning and wall temperature control of a chamber for manufacturing semiconductor devices and liquid crystal devices are determined according to the respective purposes. It is necessary to control to the target temperature.

For this reason, in this type of semiconductor manufacturing system, a heat medium used for temperature control in a chamber flows into a heat exchanger, and the heat medium is adjusted to a desired temperature by the heat exchanger. A liquid circulation system for supplying the liquid to the apparatus.

[0004] In this type of system, the temperature control range of the heat medium is wide, and the volume of the heat medium greatly changes due to the temperature change of the heat medium, so that the pressure of the heat medium also greatly changes.

When the length of a pipe between a temperature control system such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a heat exchanger is long, pressure loss due to friction in a pipe of a heat medium causes an inlet of a circulation pump provided in front of the heat exchanger. The pressure drops.

[0006] The change in temperature of the heat medium and the pressure drop due to the pressure loss in the pipe cause a large pressure drop at the inlet of the circulation pump, thereby causing cavitation (bubbles from the heat medium due to the pressure drop) in the fluid circulation system. Causes various adverse effects on the system.

[0007] The increase in the pressure of the heat medium has various adverse effects on the piping system and various devices constituting the system, which are undesirable in terms of safety.

In this type of system, an expensive fluid such as Fluorinert (registered trademark) having a light transmitting property and an insulating property is often used as a heat medium. However, there is also a problem that the pressure fluctuation causes evaporation.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a heat exchange system that suppresses pressure fluctuations in a fluid circulation system and thereby prevents various adverse effects caused thereby. .

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a temperature controlled system for performing temperature control using a liquid for a heat medium and a temperature of the liquid for a heat medium discharged from the temperature controlled system are adjusted. A heat exchanger that supplies the temperature-controlled liquid for heat medium to the temperature-controlled system, and a circulation pump that circulates the liquid for heat medium between the temperature-controlled system and the heat exchanger.
In a heat exchange system comprising a temperature control system, a heat medium pipe connecting the heat exchanger and a circulation pump to circulate the heat medium liquid, a circulation path of the heat medium is isolated from outside air. And a pressure absorbing means for absorbing pressure fluctuations of the heat medium liquid is provided in a circulation path of the heat medium.

As the pressure absorbing means, for example, a structure comprising a closed expansion tank for storing a liquid for a heat medium and a bellows tube connected to a gas chamber in the expansion tank is employed.

According to the invention, in the circulation path of the heat medium,
Since a pressure absorbing means for the heat medium liquid composed of an expansion tank and a bellows tube is provided, pressure fluctuations in the heat medium circulation system due to a change in the temperature of the heat medium can be suppressed, whereby cavitation and the like can be suppressed. Various adverse effects on the system can be prevented. Further, in the present invention, since the circulation path of the heat medium is a closed system isolated from the outside air, it is possible to prevent the heat medium from being released to the outside air due to evaporation and vaporization of the heat medium due to pressure fluctuation. Can be.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a vacuum chamber 1 as a temperature control system executes various kinds of semiconductor processing on a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer is circulated and supplied by using a liquid 2 for a heating medium such as florinate and water. For example, 90 ° C ~ 2
The temperature is controlled in the range of 50 ° C.

The heat exchanger 3 heats the heat medium liquid 2 by the lamp 4 and cools the heat medium liquid 2 by the cooling liquid 5 to adjust the temperature of the heat medium liquid 2. It will be described later.

Heat medium 2 from heat exchanger 3 to vacuum chamber 1
An opening / closing valve 7 is provided in the middle of the heat medium supply pipe 6 for supplying the gas. An on-off valve 9 and a circulation pump 10 are provided in the middle of the heat medium return pipe 8 for returning the heat medium 2 discharged from the vacuum chamber 1 to the heat exchanger 3.

Immediately before the suction port of the circulation pump 10,
A pressure absorbing means 11 is provided for absorbing a pressure change due to a temperature change of the heat medium liquid 2 or a pressure loss of the heat medium return pipe 8. The pressure absorbing means 11 is composed of a sealed expansion tank 12 for storing the heat medium liquid 2, and a telescopic bellows tube 15 connected to a gas chamber 13 of the expansion tank 12 via a hole 14. I have.

A check valve 16 for releasing the gas in the gas chamber 13 when the pressure in the gas chamber 13 of the expansion tank 12 becomes higher than a predetermined pressure, and a pressure in the gas chamber 13 of the expansion tank 12 lower than the predetermined pressure , A check valve 17 for introducing gas into the gas chamber 13 is provided.

Next, the detailed structure of the heat exchanger 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line AA of FIG.
It is sectional drawing.

2 and 3, the fluid inlet 20a
And cylindrical inner container 21 having fluid outlet 20b
Is filled with the heat medium fluid 2. The coolant is supplied to the cylindrical outer container 22 provided outside the inner container 21 from the coolant inlet 23a, and the coolant is discharged through the coolant outlet 23b.

On the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the inner container 21,
A large number of inner fins 24 and outer fins 25 which stand upright in the radial direction of the inner container 21 are respectively dispersedly arranged in the circumferential direction.

Inside the inner container 21, a transparent tube 26 made of a material having extremely high light transmittance such as quartz glass is arranged along the central axis, and a heating tube such as a halogen lamp is further provided therein. Lamp 4 is inserted.

Between each end of the inner fin 24 and the outer peripheral surface of the transparent tube 26 and each end of the outer fin 25 and the outer container 2
There is also a slight gap with the inner peripheral surface of No. 2.

In the heat exchanger 3 having such a configuration, when the heat medium liquid 2 filled in the inner container 21 is heated,
The lamp 4 is turned on and the flow of the coolant in the outer container 22 is stopped in principle. The infrared rays emitted from the lamp 5 pass through the transparent tube 26 and enter the inner container 21.
If the fluid is an extremely low light-absorbing substance such as florinate, most of the infrared light is absorbed by the inner fins 24, and the radiant heat generated there is transferred from the fins 24 to the heat medium liquid 2, and the heat medium The liquid for use 2 is heated. If the heat medium 2 is a substance such as water or ethylene glycol having an appropriate light absorbing property, infrared rays are directly absorbed not only by the inner fins 24 but also by the heat medium 2 and the heat medium 2 is heated by the radiation heat. .

The heating amount is controlled by adjusting the duty ratio of the lighting time of the lamp 4 and the light emission amount with reference to the detection value of the temperature sensor disposed near the heat medium outlet 20b. In the case of overheating, the temperature is adjusted by turning off the lamp 4 and flowing a cooling liquid into the outer container 22.

On the other hand, when the heat medium 2 is cooled, a cooling liquid is supplied to the outer container 22, and the lamp 4 is turned off in principle. That is, the heat held by the heat medium 2 is
4. The heat is transmitted to the coolant through the outer fins 25, and the heat medium 2 is cooled.

The control of the cooling amount is performed by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling liquid. In the case of overcooling, the lamp 4 is turned on,
The temperature is adjusted by reducing the flow rate of the coolant.

Next, the configurations of the expansion tank 12 and the bellows tube 15 of FIG. 1 will be described.

That is, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the expansion tank 12 absorbs a volume change due to a temperature change of the heat medium liquid 2. For example, when the temperature of the heat medium 2 is low, the water level of the heat medium in the expansion tank 12 becomes lower, and when the temperature of the heat medium 2 rises, the water level of the heat medium 2 in the expansion tank 12 becomes higher.

A bellows tube 15 to which atmospheric pressure is applied is connected to the gas chamber 13 of the expansion tank 12 through a hole 14, so that a heat loss due to a temperature change of the heat medium or a pressure loss such as friction due to piping is caused. The pressure fluctuation of the medium 2 can be absorbed, and the pressure of the heat medium can be always kept almost constant.

For example, when the temperature of the heat medium 2 is low and the water level of the heat medium in the expansion tank 12 is low, the bellows tube 15 is in a contracted state. When the water level of the heat medium 2 becomes high, the bellows tube 15 is in an extended state.

In this embodiment, the expansion tank 12 and the bellows tube 15 are arranged immediately before the suction port of the circulating pump 10. For this reason, the pressure at the suction port of the circulation pump 10 can be maintained constant, and cavitation due to a pressure drop at the pump inlet can be reliably prevented.

Further, the circulation path of the heat medium 2 in this embodiment is in a completely closed circuit state,
Is not exposed to the outside air. The expansion tank 12 also employs a closed type. For this reason, in this embodiment, the heat medium 2 evaporated and vaporized due to the pressure fluctuation is not released to the outside air, and even when an expensive heat medium such as Fluorinert is used, an increase in operating cost due to replenishment is suppressed. It becomes possible to do.

In this embodiment, the check valves 16 and 17 are connected to the expansion tank 12 so that the pressure in the gas chamber 13 of the expansion tank 12 can be kept within predetermined lower and upper pressure limits. I have. For this reason, when the temperature of the heat medium 2 rises by starting the operation with the bellows in the most extended state, the gas is discharged from the check valve 16 to the outside air,
Prevents the pressure in the passage from rising abnormally. Similarly, the check valve 17 can prevent the pressure in the path from abnormally dropping, and it is not necessary to perform initial adjustment of the bellows expansion / contraction position in consideration of the maximum stroke of the bellows tube 15 and the like.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

The second embodiment is intended to cope with a situation where the length of the pipe between the vacuum chamber 1 and the heat exchanger 3 is long and the pressure loss of the heat medium 2 due to friction on the inner wall of the pipe becomes considerably large. To increase the volume of the expansion tank and the bellows tube, and
In order to increase the pump discharge pressure, a booster unit 30 including a circulation pump 31, an expansion tank 32 and a bellows tube 33 is added to the embodiment shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the heat exchanger main unit 40 includes the heat exchanger 3, the circulation pump 10, the expansion tank 12, the bellows tube 15, and the like.
And the booster unit 30 are unitized as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 so that connection and disconnection of these units can be easily performed, and according to the pipe length between the vacuum chamber 1 and the heat exchanger 3. , The system with or without the booster unit 30 can be easily constructed.

FIG. 5 shows the heat exchanger main unit 40, FIG. 6 shows the booster unit 30, and FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which these two units are connected adjacent to each other. In the unit configuration shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the expansion tank 32 and the bellows tube 33 provided in the booster unit 30 each have a sufficient capacity, so that the main unit 4 shown in FIG.
The configuration corresponding to the expansion tank 12 and the bellows tube 15 shown in FIG.
Of course, as shown in FIG. 4, the expansion tank 12 and the bellows tube 15 may also be provided on the main unit 40 side, and the main unit 40 may be configured to include these components.

According to the second embodiment, the circulation pump 31 is added to the discharge port side of the heat exchanger 3, and the circulation pump 31
As a result, the discharge pressure is increased to about twice the discharge pressure of the circulation pump of the main unit 40. For this reason,
According to the second embodiment, the heat exchanger 3 is connected to the vacuum chamber 1
Even when the pressure loss of the heat medium 2 is large under a situation where the heat medium 2 has to be installed at a long distance from the heater, the heat medium 2 can be supplied to the vacuum chamber 1 at a high pressure.
Further, in the second embodiment, since the expansion tank 32 and the bellows tube 33 are added to increase the capacity thereof, the heat exchanger 3 is connected to the vacuum chamber 1.
Even if the capacity of the heat medium circulating in the heat medium circulation system greatly increases under conditions where the heat medium must be installed at a long distance from the Can be absorbed.

Further, also in the second embodiment, since the expansion tank 12 of the main body unit 40 and the expansion tank 32 of the booster unit 30 are arranged at a position immediately before the suction port side of the circulation pump 10, the circulation pump is provided. 10 can be maintained at a constant pressure and cavitation due to a pressure drop at the pump inlet can be reliably prevented. The configuration of the heat exchanger 2 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an example. Any other configuration may be adopted as long as it can heat and cool the temperature of the liquid only by the illustration.

Further, the device to be temperature-controlled is not limited to the vacuum chamber for semiconductor manufacturing, and any other device such as a processing device can be controlled as long as the temperature is controlled by the heat medium liquid. You can do it.

Further, the pressure absorbing means for absorbing the pressure fluctuation of the heat medium liquid is not limited to the combination of the expansion tank and the bellows tube, but may employ another arbitrary configuration.

The valve for keeping the pressure of the gas in the expansion tank within a predetermined range is not limited to the check valve, but may be replaced by another valve such as a relief valve having the same function. Good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an internal configuration of the heat exchanger.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of the heat exchanger of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a heat exchanger main unit used in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a booster unit used in a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state where a heat exchanger body unit and a booster unit used in the second embodiment are connected.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum chamber 2 ... Heat medium liquid 3 ... Heat exchanger 4 ... Heating lamp 5 ... Cooling liquid 6 ... Heat medium supply pipe 7, 9 ... On-off valve 10, 31 ... Circulation pump 11 ...
Pressure absorbing means 12, 32 ... Expansion tank 13 ... Gas chamber 14 ... Hole 15, 33 ... Bellows tube 16, 17 ... Check valve 21 ... Inner vessel 22 ... Outer vessel 24 ... Inner fin 25 ... Outer fin 26 ... Transparent cylinder 30 ... Booster unit 40: Heat exchanger main unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] A temperature control system for controlling the temperature using the heat medium liquid; and a heat medium liquid whose temperature has been adjusted by adjusting the temperature of the heat medium liquid discharged from the temperature control system. A heat exchanger to be supplied to the temperature control system, a circulating pump for circulating the heat medium liquid between the temperature controlled system and the heat exchanger, and a circulating pump between the temperature controlled system, the heat exchanger and the circulating pump. A heat exchange system comprising: a heat medium pipe connected to circulate the heat medium liquid, wherein a circulation path of the heat medium liquid is a closed system isolated from outside air, and the heat medium liquid is A heat exchange system, wherein a pressure absorbing means for absorbing the pressure fluctuation is disposed in a circulation path of the heat medium. 2. The heat exchange system according to claim 1, wherein said pressure absorbing means is provided immediately before the suction side of said circulating pump. 3. The pressure absorbing means comprises a sealed expansion tank for storing the heat medium liquid, and a bellows tube connected to a gas chamber in the expansion tank.
Or the heat exchange system according to 2. 4. A first valve for releasing gas in the gas chamber when the pressure in the gas chamber of the expansion tank becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure;
4. The heat exchange system according to claim 3, further comprising a second valve for introducing gas into the gas chamber when the pressure in the expansion tank becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined pressure. 5. The circulation pump has first and second circulation pumps connected in series in a circulation path of the heat medium, and the pressure absorbing means is a closed type that stores the heat medium liquid. And a bellows tube connected to a gas chamber in the expansion tank, wherein the first circulation pump and the heat exchanger are unitized as a main unit, and the second circulation pump, The expansion tank and the bellows tube are unitized as a booster unit, and the heating medium pipe is filled with the heating medium liquid discharged from the temperature controlled system, the expansion tank, a first circulation pump,
The heat exchanger and the second circulating pump are configured to flow in this order, and the expansion tank is disposed immediately before the suction side of the first circulating pump. Heat exchange system. 6. The circulation pump has first and second circulation pumps connected in series in a circulation path of the heating medium, and the pressure absorbing means is a closed type for storing the heating medium liquid. A first expansion tank, a first bellows tube connected to a gas chamber in the first expansion tank, a sealed second expansion tank for storing the heat medium liquid, and a second expansion tank. A second bellows tube connected to a gas chamber in the expansion tank, and a gas pipe connecting the gas chambers in the first and second expansion tanks, wherein the heat exchanger and the first circulation A pump, the first expansion tank and the first bellows tube are unitized as a main unit, and the second circulating pump, the second expansion tank and the second bellows tube are united as a booster unit. And, a pipe for the heat medium, the heat medium liquid discharged from the temperature control system, the first and second expansion tank, first
And the first and second expansion tanks are arranged immediately before the suction side of the first circulation pump. The heat exchange system according to claim 1, wherein: