KR20090031227A - A vaporization humidification device - Google Patents

Abstract

A direct spray type vaporization humidifier in a clean room and a humidity control method thereof are provided to reduce operating cost by removing heating load by directly humidifying steam according to target absolute humidity inside a clean room. A direct spray type humidity control method in a clean room(30) comprises: a step for grasping the humidity and the proper temperature in the clean room; a step for spraying the ultra pure water having ultra fine particle condition within the clean room with a spraying unit in case the humidity and the temperature grasped in the clean room are less than the standard humidity; a step for lowering the temperature within the clean room by absorbing the latent heat of vaporization within the clean room when the ultra pure water having the ultra fine particle condition is sprayed; a step for stopping spraying the ultra pure water when the humidity within the clean room is proper; and a step for circulating the ultra pure water through an ultra pure water feeding pipe(61a) and an ultra pure water recovery pipe(61b).

Description

Direct spray type vaporization humidifier and humidity control method in clean room {A vaporization humidification device}

The present invention relates to a direct spray vaporization humidification apparatus and a humidity control method in a clean room. More specifically, the cooling and humidification effect of air is sprayed directly into the clean room by spraying ultrapure water in a large clean room operating condition requiring precise temperature and humidity control. At the same time, the ultra-pure particles atomized by the nozzles are in direct contact with the air, thereby enabling effective and precise control of the amount of air in the clean room aimed at cooling and humidifying the air by heat transfer and mass transfer between each other. The present invention relates to a direct spray vaporization humidifier and a humidity control method in a clean room.

First, in an environment in which semiconductor devices are produced, the clean room circulates clean air by passing external air through a semiconductor filter such as a hepa filter or a ulpa filter to prevent inflow of dust that may cause contamination of the wafer. In order to prevent static electricity during wafer handling and to create optimum operating conditions for semiconductor production equipment, circulating air such as external air or fresh air is passed through a dehumidifier and a humidifier to circulate the fresh air with humidity control. It is formed and maintained by the method, and the removal of such dusts and the adjustment of humidity are known to a certain degree to be achieved in a conventional air conditioner used in the semiconductor manufacturing field. The dehumidifier that removes moisture in the air to lower the humidity can be roughly classified into a compression type, a cooling type, and a dry adsorption type. The compression type is a method of compressing and condensing moisture in the air to lower humidity, and there is a freezing type and an adsorption type, and the cooling type is similar to the compression type freezing type, but has the advantage of reducing energy management costs. Is made of corrugate type and dehumidified by passing moisture-containing air through a rotor containing lithium chloride (Lithium Chloride), and the rotor is deodorized by using hot air in the regeneration part. It is designed to be recycled and can be used for a wide range of air flows. It is easy to control humidity, economical maintenance cost, easy maintenance and wide range of humidity. It is widely used in clean room of semiconductor production equipment. These dehumidifiers act to lower humidity by removing moisture in the air.

In addition, the humidifier, as opposed to the dehumidifier described above, acts to increase humidity by adding water vapor to the air, and can be roughly classified into a spray type and a transmission type.

The spray type is a method in which water is vaporized by spraying water using a venturi tube, or by increasing the humidity by forcibly releasing particulate water particles in the air by using an ultrasonic generator using a crystal oscillator, the transmission type is a Teflon tube. Deionized water is put in a tube having such fine pores, and a constant temperature is maintained to increase humidity by allowing water molecules to pass through the fine pores of the tube and out of the tube to evaporate into the air.

However, in the conventional humidifier, the spray type is advantageous in controlling humidity of a large amount of air such as humidity control in a clean room, but the particle size of physically released particulate water particles is not constant, so that the process tube or process In a closed system such as a chamber, it is difficult to precisely control the humidity, and it is difficult to keep the humidity constant because water particles are likely to condense on the wall of the process tube or the process chamber and remain condensed on the wall. There was a disadvantage of difficulty.

In addition, the transmission type in the conventional humidifier can precisely control the humidity, but because the amount of moisture generated is very small, it is possible to control the ppm concentration of humidity, but there is a problem that it is not suitable for the humidity control of the percent (%) concentration. However, there is a problem that it is not suitable when a larger capacity process chamber or continuous high humidity is required.

Therefore, the control of humidity by the dehumidifier and the humidifier in the conventionally provided air conditioner is very inaccurate due to the large amount, and thus the control range of the humidity in the clean room has also been adjusted approximately 15 to 50%. .

In addition, in an oxidation process such as thermal oxidation, a special humidity control device such as a bubbler is separately used, but the humidity control device such as a bubbler, a dry steam, or a hot plate method is used to restrict high purity water to the process chamber. As it can be used only to supply the capacity, there is a disadvantage that it is not suitable for the humidity control of a large amount of air, such as the humidity control of the clean room.

 In addition, most industrial humidifiers installed in the past have been installed and operated as an essential element of humidity control by being installed directly in an air conditioner (AHU). As the interest in the eco-friendly system has been concentrated, the direct installation method in such an air conditioner has been technically satisfied to some extent, but there are problems in terms of fuel cost and efficiency in large-scale air conditioning facilities.

The conventional representative air conditioner (B) is, as shown in Figure 1, the filter 101 is provided in each of the inlet and outlet of the duct 100 for supplying air into the clean room, the duct 100 In the winter, a heating coil 103 connected to the boiler 102 and a humidifier 104 for humidification are installed in the winter, and a cooling coil 106 connected to the freezer 105 for cooling and humidifying the summer season. ), A blower 107 is installed, the boiler 102 is operated in winter, the heating coil 103 is operated, the humidifier 104 is operated while supplying the humidified air into the clean room, fuel costs Due to the increase in the heating load on the boiler 102 of the humidifier 104 is enormous operating costs.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and by supplying the required ultra-pure water accurately by vaporizing and humidifying the water vapor directly in the clean room to the absolute humidity of the dry air outside the winter in the clean room to the humidification of the existing air conditioner It is to provide a direct spray vaporization humidification apparatus and a humidity control method in a clean room according to the present invention to omit the required heating load to significantly reduce the operating cost.

The present invention uses a principle that occurs from the place where the water vapor density (partial pressure) is high in the material transfer to a low place, the method of humidifying by spraying in the air through a nozzle with a pump, without heating or cooling ultrapure water, at this time humidifying the air The moisture to be made is the state of ultra-pure water sprayed by the nozzle, and in order to become vapor, the humidification process by spraying is an adiabatic change to obtain the latent heat of evaporation and return it to the air again (that is, In other words, this process uses the principle that there is little change in enthalpy (h1 ≒ h2) indicating heat content in each state of the wet air diagram, but the temperature in the clean room is reduced.

This object of the present invention is a control valve control unit for precisely identifying and supplying the required amount of moisture in a clean room, a manifold installed in a clean room for spraying ultra-fine water in a fine particle state to vaporize and humidify the identified required ultra pure water in the clean room, and a manifold. An ultrapure water supply unit connected to a manifold for supplying ultrapure water to a folder and a compressed air generating unit connected to the manifold for spraying ultrapure water are achieved by a direct spray vaporization humidification apparatus in a clean room according to the present invention.

This object of the present invention is to spray the ultra-fine water in the state of the ultrafine particles in the clean room by the step of identifying the appropriate humidity and temperature in the clean room, and the spray means for vaporizing and humidifying ultrapure water when the humidity and temperature found in the clean room is less than the specified humidity. According to the present invention comprising the steps of, the ultra-fine water is sprayed in the ultra-fine state and at the same time absorbing the latent heat of evaporation in the clean room to reduce the temperature in the clean room, and the spraying of ultra-pure water when the humidity in the clean room is appropriate Achieved by a humidity control method.

Direct spray vaporization humidifier in a clean room according to the present invention by supplying the ultra-pure water required by the vaporization of the steam directly in the clean room according to the absolute humidity of the dry air outside the winter season to the target, the humidification of the existing air conditioner By eliminating the necessary heating load, the operating cost is significantly reduced.

Up to now, the operation method applied for the humidity control in the clean room has been operated by the outside of the clean room through steam humidification or moisture free humidification. However, this method has to bear a large operating cost by involving the heating load by the boiler. However, the humidification method through the direct spray vaporization humidification apparatus in the clean room according to the present invention can achieve the effect of temperature reduction by absorbing the humidification effect and evaporative latent heat only by fine spray.

Direct spray evaporative humidification device (A) in a clean room according to an embodiment of the present invention after accurately detecting the current state, such as the temperature and humidity of the air in the clean room through a temperature and humidity sensor, vaporization humidification in the position required for insufficient water vapor The key is to accurately supply the required amount of water vapor through the device.

In the relationship between droplet size and degree of vaporization, the larger the particle size, the more the vaporization degree behaves like a decreasing curve in the exponential function. In other words, the smaller the droplets, the easier vaporization occurs in the atmosphere, and the larger the droplets, the greater the likelihood of condensation. In addition, if water vapor is adjacent to the structure, condensation occurs in the structure before vaporization occurs. In consideration of the vaporization and condensation relationships of the particles of the water vapor in the present invention, the direct injection vaporization humidifier is positioned in the optimal conditions between the wind tools in the clean room.

Direct spray evaporative humidification device (A) in a clean room according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Clean room 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a space controlled to maintain constant in the air, air temperature and humidity, room pressure and air flow. As shown in FIG. 4, a fan filter unit 32 is installed on the ceiling of the clean room 30 to induce the flow of air to supply the clean room 30 to the clean room 30. A large number is installed and the lower or one side is provided with an air conditioner (B) for maintaining the positive pressure in the clean room (30) and supply fresh air, dry cooling coil (33, Dry Cooling Coil) for the purpose of precise temperature control room ( 30) is installed at the beginning of the air blower section 31, which is a passage through which the internal air moves from the lower part of the clean room to the upper part, and the direct spray vaporization humidification device A of the present invention minimizes the effect of the structure and reduces the vaporization distance. The air inside the clean room, which can be secured to the maximum, is located and operated in the wind tool section 31 which is a passage that moves from the lower part of the clean room to the upper part.

Direct spray evaporative humidification device (A) in a clean room according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figure 2, is located in the clean room 30 and a manifold (with a nozzle 41 for ultrapure water spray) 40), the control valve control unit 50 for checking the temperature and humidity in the clean room 30, connected to the manifold 40, ultra-pure water supply unit 60 for supplying ultrapure water, up to the manifold 40 Extended compressed air generating unit 70 is included.

In this embodiment, four nozzles 41 are provided in each manifold 40. Each manifold 40 is provided with an ultrapure water storage tank 42 for storing ultrapure water. The ultrapure water storage tank 42 is provided with a hollow ball 42a that moves up and down according to gravity to adjust the ultrapure water supply of the ultrapure water supply pipe 61a according to the vertical movement of the hollow ball 42a. The ultrapure water storage tank 42 is connected to the ultrapure water supply pipe (61a), the intermediate in order to prevent the occurrence of contamination in the ultrapure water supply pipe (61a) due to the stagnation of ultrapure water during the non-humidification, microbial generation, and chemical action Branched from the ultrapure water supply pipe (61a) continues to circulate through the ultrapure water recovery pipe (61b) for recovering ultrapure water back to the ultrapure water supply unit (60). If a humidification situation occurs, the ultrapure water in the ultrapure water storage tank 42 is sprayed while compressed air is ejected, and when the water level of the ultrapure water storage tank 42 is lowered, the ultrapure water supply pipe 61a for supplying the ultrapure water is opened and the ultrapure water storage tank ( It is a structure that the water level of 42) is kept constant. The ultrapure water supply pipe 61a extends into the ultrapure water storage tank 42, extends into the manifold 40 in the ultrapure water storage tank 42, and is connected to the nozzle 41, and the ultrapure water recovery pipe 61b is supplied to the ultrapure water supply. Branched in the middle of the pipe (61a) is a structure that extends to the ultrapure water supply unit (60).

The manifold 40 should be installed to ensure a sufficient vaporization distance of about 4 m or more in the clean room 30, and the ultrapure water finely sprayed by being installed in the airflow passage 31 to minimize the influence on the structure. It should be installed to prevent condensation.

The control valve controller 50 may always recognize the temperature and humidity state amount through the temperature and humidity sensor 51 at the end installed in the clean room 30. If the control range of the dew point temperature recognized by the controller 50 reaches the lower limit, the humidification signal is called, and the control valve controller 50 is installed on the compressed air pipe 71 of the compressed air generator 70. When the valve 72 is opened, humidification is performed through the nozzle 41 installed on the manifold 40. If the state value recognized by the control valve control unit 50 reaches the upper limit of the control range, the control valve control unit 50 is installed on the compressed air pipe 71 of the compressed air generating unit 70. Turning off) will end the humidification and the ultrapure water storage tank 42 will be closed.

The ultrapure water supply unit 60 and the ultrapure water circulating pump (61c) and the ultrapure water supply pipe (61c) is installed to maintain a constant pressure on the ultrapure water supply pipe (61a) and the ultrapure water supply pipe (61a) is supplied to the ultrapure water storage tank 42 The ultrapure water supply pipe 61a is composed of an ultrapure water recovery pipe 61b branched near the pure water storage tank 42 and extending to the ultrapure water supply unit 60.

The compressed air generating unit 70 is a conventional compressor is used is provided with a compressed air pipe 71 extending to the manifold (40). The regulator 73 is arranged on the compressed air pipe 71 so as to open when the pressure is higher than a predetermined pressure.

Humidity control method according to the present invention is to determine the appropriate humidity and temperature in the clean room, when the humidity and temperature found in the clean room is less than the specified humidity by the spray means for vaporizing and humidifying the ultra-pure water in the ultra-fine state in the clean room And spraying the ultrapure water in the ultrafine state and simultaneously absorbing the latent heat of evaporation in the cleanroom to lower the temperature in the cleanroom, and stopping the spraying of the ultrapure water when the humidity in the cleanroom is appropriate.

The operation and humidity control method of the direct spray vaporization humidifier in a clean room according to the present invention having such a configuration will be described in detail below.

First, when the humidity in the clean room 30 is insufficient, first, the temperature and humidity sensor 51 of the control valve controller 50 recognizes this and generates a signal of insufficient humidity to the control valve controller 50. When the control valve control unit 50 detects such a lack of humidity signal, the control valve control unit 50 opens a valve 72 installed on the compressed air pipe 71 of the compressed air generating unit 70. When the valve 72 is opened to send compressed air, the nozzle 41 installed on the manifold 40 is opened to spray ultrapure water. As such, when the ultrapure water is sprayed into the clean room 30, the humidity in the clean room 30 is increased and at the same time, the fine particles to be sprayed absorb the latent heat as the evaporated evaporates, thereby lowering the temperature in the clean room. As described above, when the humidity in the clean room reaches an appropriate level, the temperature and humidity sensor 51 of the control valve controller 50 recognizes this, and when the signal is sent to the control valve controller 50, the control valve controller 50 recognizes this. When the valve 72 is closed, spraying of the clean room is stopped while the delivery of the compressed air is stopped. As described above, the control of the humidity in the clean room can be easily controlled by spraying by the nozzle 41 of the manifold 40 installed in the clean room, and the cost of the humidity control can be greatly reduced.

The operation and humidity control method of the direct spray vaporization humidification apparatus in a clean room according to the present invention will be referred to as an invention that can be repeatedly applied and industrially applicable.

1 is a schematic diagram of a humidification system of a conventional air conditioner

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a vaporization humidification system according to an embodiment of the present invention

3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a direct spray vaporization humidification system installed in a clean room according to one embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a block diagram of a vaporization humidification system according to an embodiment of the present invention

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

30. Cleanroom 40. Spray manifold

50. Control valve control unit 60. Ultrapure water supply

70. Compressed air generator 72. Control valve

Claims (1)

In the direct spray humidity control method in the clean room, The humidity control method, the step of identifying the appropriate humidity and temperature in the clean room, When the humidity and temperature found in the clean room are equal to or less than a predetermined humidity, spraying ultra-pure water in ultra-fine particles into the clean room by spraying means for vaporizing and humidifying ultrapure water; Reducing the temperature in the clean room by absorbing the evaporative latent heat in the clean room while simultaneously spraying the ultrafine water in the ultrafine state; Stopping the spray of ultrapure water when the humidity in the clean room is appropriate; Direct spray type humidity control method in a clean room, characterized in that the step of circulating the ultra pure water through the ultra pure water supply pipe and the ultra pure water recovery pipe when the spray of the ultra pure water is stopped.

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