1. Energy and Operational Benefits of
Thermoelectric Chillers in
Semiconductor Manufacturing
Nick Collins
2011 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy
Efficiency in Industry
Main Headquarters: 120 Water Street, Suite 350, North Andover, MA 01845
With offices in: NY, ME, TX, CA, OR
www.ers-inc.com

2. Introduction
 Project
 Retrofit
of vapor compression chillers with TECs
 Thermoelectric
chillers
 What
are they?
 What is the Peltier effect?
 Energy
 Pre
Savings
and post install metered data
2

3. The Players
National Semiconductor Maine – Semiconductor
fabrication, Project Owner (NOTE: Recently acquired by
Texas Instruments)
Efficiency Maine – State energy efficiency and alternative
energy programs.
ERS – Energy engineering contractor. Administers the
Efficiency Maine program on behalf of the State of
Maine.
Solid State Cooling Systems – Manufacturer of
thermoelectric chillers
3

4. The Players
National Semiconductor Maine
National’s flagship manufacturing facility
Fabricate 200mm wafers in an 80,000 ft2
Class 1 clean room (“Ballroom”)
Over 100 automated tools
Return air plenum (RAP) beneath the
ballroom contains support equipment
4

5. The Players
Efficiency Maine
State energy efficiency and alternate
energy programs
Prescriptive and custom cash incentive
program for business
Provide up to $300,000 in cash
incentives annually for qualifying
projects
5

6. The Players
energy and resource solutions
Progressive energy engineering firm based
in North Andover, MA
Office is New York, Texas, Maine,
Oregon, and California
Areas of specialization include assessment and implementation of
energy efficiency projects, utility program planning, management,
and evaluation; renewable/sustainable building assessment; energy
analysis; and efficient lighting design
6

7. The Players
Solid State Cooling Systems
Design and manufacture
compact thermoelectric
chillers
Located in Wappingers
Falls, NY
100 – 6,000 Watt
applications
7

8. The Project
National Semiconductor, South
Portland, ME
80,000 ft2 of fabrication space
Over 100 automated tools, most with
dedicated cooling
Corporate emphasis on energy
efficiency, reducing kWh/production unit
8

9. The Project

Existing
 Forty one Edwards TCU 40/80 vapor
compression chillers
 2.8 kW compressor
 2400 Watt cooling capacity

Proposed
 Forty one Solid State Cooling Systems
1200W Thermorack thermoelectric
chillers
 No compressor
 1200 Watt cooling capacity
9

10. The Technology


What is a thermoelectric chiller?
 Grossly simplified, it is a chiller that
makes use of the Peltier effect to
remove heat
Wait back up, what is a chiller?
 A chiller is a machine that removes
heat from a liquid, typically through
the vapor compression cycle
10

11. The Technology

Peltier Effect
 Discovered in 1834 by French physicist
Jean Peltier
 “The Peltier effect occurs whenever
electrical current flows through two
dissimilar conductors. Depending on
the direction of current flow, the
junction of the two conductors will
either absorb or release heat.” –
Tellurex.com
11

12. The Technology
12

13. The Technology

Vapor Compression
Chiller


Absorbs Heat
Reject Heat
Drives the process
Cold Junction
•


Mechanical Parts
Refrigerant

Reject Heat
DC Power source
•

Absorbs Heat
Heat Sink
•
Compressor
•


Condenser
•

Thermoelectric Chiller
Evaporator
•


Drives the process
No Mechanical Parts
(except auxiliary
systems)
No Refrigerant
13

14. The Results
Pre and Post Metering Results on Lam Research PTC Plasma Etch
Tool #02
Pre-retrofit, Edwards TCU 40/80 – 2.2 kW avg.
Post-retrofit, SSC Thermorack 1200 – 0.3 kW avg.
14

15. The Results
 Direct
Savings
Unit
Quantity
Average kW
Edwards TCU
40/80
41
2.2
SSC
ThermoRack
1200
41
0.3
Annual Run
Hours
Annual
Direct
Electric Use kWh
8660 781,132
8660 106,518
Annual kWh
Savings 674,614
15

16. The Results
 Indirect
Savings (not metered)
Unit
Edwards TCU
40/80
SSC ThermoRack
1200
Quantity
BTU per
Unit
Annual Run
Hours
Annual Indirect
Electric Use –
kWh*
41
7502
8660
177,577
41
1023
8660
24,215
Annual kWh
Savings
153,362
*assumes 0.8 kW/ton cooling efficiency
16

17. The Results
 Total
predicted annual savings
 827,976
kWh
 Assume $0.11/kWh – $91,077 in savings
17

18. Partnering
 Efficiency
Maine provided metering of preretrofit condition and generated independent
analysis
 The project met the requirements for preapproval and received the maximum annual
incentive of $300,000
 The project did not meet National corporate
requirements for payback period without the
EMaine incentive
18

19. Final Thoughts



Thermoelectric chillers are not efficient
 Carnot efficiency of TEC: 5%-8%
 Carnot efficiency of Vapor compression chillers 40%-60%
For energy savings, only suitable for niche applications
Other benefits
 Fine temperature control – 0.2◦C vs. 1.0◦ C
 Smaller footprint and weight – 75 lbs vs.. 375 lbs
 No moving parts
 No CFCs or HCFCs
19

20. Questions
20