Energy-Saving Benefits of Adiabatic Humidification in the Air Conditioning Systems of Semiconductor Cleanrooms

Abstract

This paper aimed to evaluate the applicability of adiabatic humidification in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of semiconductor cleanrooms. Accurate temperature and humidity control are essential in semiconductor cleanrooms and high energy consumption steam humidification is commonly used. Therefore, we propose an adiabatic humidification system employing a pressurized water atomizer to reduce the energy consumption. The annual energy consumption of three different HVAC systems were analyzed to evaluate the applicability of adiabatic humidification. The studied cases were as follows: (1) CASE 1: a make-up air unit (MAU) with a steam humidifier, a dry cooling coil (DCC), and a fan filter unit (FFU); (2) CASE 2: a MAU with the pressurized water atomizer, a DCC, and a FFU; and (3) CASE 3: a MAU, a DCC, and a FFU, and the pressurized water atomizer installed in the return duct. The energy saving potential of adiabatic humidification over steam humidification has been proved, with savings of 8% and 23% in CASE 2 and CASE 3 compared to CASE 1, respectively. Furthermore, the pressurized water atomizer installed in the return duct exhibits greater energy saving effect than when installed in the MAU.

Energy-Efficient Production Planning Using a Two-Stage Fuzzy Approach

“…Reducing energy consumption is an important task for a factory [1]. In order to accomplish this task, factories take the following measures [15,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]:…”

Energy Benefit of Liquid Desiccant-Assisted Humidification in Buildings during Winter Operation

“…m steam ) is a function of the rate and efficiency of humidification. It can be calculated by dividing the humidification rate by the efficiency (ε steam ), as shown in Equation ( 22) [27,28]. The boiler load for providing steam to the humidifier is expressed using the temperature variation and the latent heat of the vaporization of water, given by Equation (23).…”

“…The temperatures of steam and water leaving and entering the boiler are assumed to be 120 and 20 • C, respectively. Additionally, the efficiency of humidification is assumed to be 90% [27]. Then, the operational energy of the boiler can be estimated using the boiler load obtained by Equation ( 23) and the model based on EnergyPlus [29].…”