Successful energy conservation at IMS
Successful energy conservation
Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart has made significant progress in energy conservation over the past year
Operating a clean room requires a lot of energy. Just cleaning the air, which must be virtually free of particles, and treating tap water to produce ultrapure water is very costly and accounts for a large proportion of the total energy requirement. In addition, there are the actual machines and systems to structure and manufacture complex components for microelectronics. As well as electricity for operation, these devices also require energy for cooling or air conditioning. For example, the temperature of the room in which the 11-ton SB4050 e-beam writer is located must be maintained with an accuracy of 1/10 of a degree Celsius – around the clock, 365 days a year.
Many of the devices produce waste heat that has to be dissipated or cooled using cooling systems. To date, district cooling has been used on a large scale for this purpose, which is distributed from two cooling centers at the University of Stuttgart via a network of pipes on the Vaihingen campus.
Through a variety of measures, we were able to reduce our annual electricity consumption by 554,600 kWh, while district heating consumption was reduced by 467,000 kWh. Since 2018, we have also reduced district cooling consumption by an impressive 2,000,000 kWh.
Our success is based on adjustments we made in various places that have enabled us to reduce our energy consumption. In particular, the renewal of our central clean room control system and the optimization of our cooling water circulation have played an important role in this. In addition, a photo voltaic system was installed on our roof to generate clean energy and further reduce our environmental footprint.
In addition to these extensive measures, many smaller ones were also implemented. Further savings were achieved by replacing light bulbs and pumps. These continuous efforts have led to a significant decrease in our energy consumption.
As a further measure, a new heat pump was installed a few weeks ago, which utilizes the heat absorbed by the cooling water and uses it as a heat source to supply heat to the building. Exhaust fans are currently being replaced with new models that have an adjustable, more efficient drive and promise further savings.
Additional measures are planned for the future to further reduce our energy consumption. One focus will be the expansion of the photo voltaic system on the roof to produce even more renewable energy.
The fluorine-containing process gases used in our clean room are rendered harmless by so-called combustion scrubbers with a thermal plasma and the combustion products are washed out and filtered.
We are proud of the progress we have already made in energy conservation at the IMS. With commitment and a focus on sustainable solutions, we will continue to expand our contribution to environmental protection.
Contact: Thomas Deuble • phone +49 711 21855-244 • deuble@ims-chips.de