Anhui Xinke Water Treatment Equipment Co., Ltd. – Application Case of 30m³/h Reverse Osmosis Equipment for Chip Manufacturing Enterprises

As a high-tech and precision industry, chip manufacturing has extremely strict requirements for the purity of production water. As the “basic chemical” in semiconductor manufacturing, water purity directly determines the yield of nanoscale devices. Even trace ions, particles or organic substances in water may lead to serious problems such as chip circuit short circuits and lithography defects, resulting in huge economic losses. With years of technical accumulation and rich practical experience in the industrial water treatment field, Anhui Xinke Water Treatment Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Anhui Xinke”) has customized a 30 cubic meters per hour reverse osmosis (RO) high-purity water treatment solution for Duocheng Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., successfully solving the core pain points such as substandard production water purity and unstable water supply, providing reliable water quality guarantee for the continuity and stability of chip production, and demonstrating Anhui Xinke’s professional strength in the high-end industrial water treatment field.

I. Project Background and Customer Requirements

Duocheng Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. focuses on the R&D and production of high-end integrated circuits and semiconductor components. Its production process covers key links such as wafer cleaning, photolithography, etching and thin film deposition. 80% of the processes require the use of high-purity water. Only the wafer cleaning link consumes a large amount of pure water per wafer. The requirements for water quality are strict, which need to meet the electronic-grade pure water standard. The specific requirements include conductivity ≤ 5μS/cm, particles < 1 piece/ml (particle size < 0.05μm), TOC < 1ppb, and it is necessary to meet the continuous water supply demand of 30 cubic meters per hour to ensure the production line is not interrupted.

Due to the company’s strategic development needs, the enterprise has relocated to a new production park as a whole. Restricted by the overall design and planning of the new factory building, the entire set of water treatment equipment must be installed on the rooftop of the 6th floor. The original water supply conditions cannot meet the high-purity water use requirements of modern chip production. Direct use of municipal tap water has the problem of substandard water quality, which frequently leads to production process interruption and product yield reduction, seriously affecting the enterprise’s production efficiency and product competitiveness. To completely solve the above problems and match the overall commissioning and operation of the new factory, the enterprise finally selected Anhui Xinke as its partner after multiple rounds of screening and comparison, entrusting it to design, install and commission a 30m³/h reverse osmosis water treatment system that meets the needs of chip production.

The customer’s core requirements are clear: first, to ensure stable and up-to-standard water production purity, meeting the strict requirements of each link of chip production for water quality; second, to achieve stable water supply of 30 cubic meters per hour, adapting to the continuous operation rhythm of the production line; third, to optimize equipment energy consumption and maintenance costs, improving system operation efficiency; fourth, the system should have intelligent control capabilities, reducing manual operation intensity and realizing unattended operation; fifth, restricted by the site area, the entire set of equipment must be suitable for the installation conditions on the rooftop of the 6th floor.

II. Project Solution Design

After receiving the entrustment, Anhui Xinke set up a professional technical team to go deep into the production site of the customer’s new factory, conduct a comprehensive survey of the rooftop installation conditions, building load-bearing and pipeline layout, investigate key parameters such as raw water quality (raw water is municipal tap water, turbidity > 1NTU, TDS 100-200mg/L, conductivity 100-200μS/cm), production process and water consumption peak. Combined with the water quality standards and industry specifications for chip production (SEMI F63 standard), a set of integrated high-purity water treatment solutions with reverse osmosis technology as the core was customized. The overall design of the system follows the principles of “high efficiency, stability, energy saving, intelligence and adaptation to high-altitude installation”. The core configuration is a 30 cubic meters per hour reverse osmosis equipment, supporting pre-treatment, post-treatment and intelligent control systems to ensure that the water production quality, water supply efficiency and installation adaptability all meet the standards.

(I) Core Equipment Configuration

1. Pre-treatment System: A three-stage pre-treatment combination of multi-media filter + activated carbon filter + security filter is adopted to effectively remove suspended solids, sediment, colloids, residual chlorine, organic substances and other impurities in raw water, reduce the SDI value (pollution index) of raw water, prevent RO membrane scaling and oxidation damage, and lay a foundation for subsequent reverse osmosis treatment. Among them, the multi-media filter is of Φ1800x2400mm specification, and the filter material is high-quality quartz sand and anthracite; the activated carbon filter is of the same specification with high-quality coconut shell activated carbon, which can efficiently adsorb residual chlorine and organic substances; the security filter is of 20″3-core specification, equipped with 5μm PP melt-blown filter element, serving as the last pre-treatment line of defense to intercept tiny particles and ensure the water quality safety entering the RO membrane.

2. Core Reverse Osmosis System: A two-stage RO configuration is adopted, using imported Dow 8040 reverse osmosis membrane elements, a total of 24 pieces, arranged in 4:2 with 6 cores per module. The desalination rate of the reverse osmosis membrane is ≥ 99.5%, which can efficiently remove more than 99% of dissolved salts, ions, bacteria, viruses and trace organic substances in raw water, ensuring that the water production purity meets the standard. It is equipped with a vertical multi-stage high-pressure pump (flow rate ~40m³/h, head ~130-150m, material is SUS304 stainless steel) to provide high-pressure power required to overcome osmotic pressure for the RO membrane. At the same time, it is equipped with a scale inhibitor/reducing agent dosing system to add scale inhibitor to prevent RO membrane scaling and neutralize excessive residual chlorine to protect the membrane elements; a cleaning system is added to regularly chemically clean the RO membrane, restore membrane performance and extend membrane service life.

3. Post-treatment System: Equipped with EDI electrodeionization device and ultraviolet sterilization system to further remove residual trace ions and microorganisms in the reverse osmosis produced water, ensuring that the resistivity of the produced water is stably above 18.2MΩ·cm (25℃) and TOC < 1ppb, fully meeting the strict water quality requirements of chip production; supporting 30-50m³ pure water tank and SUS304 stainless steel pure water delivery pump to realize the storage and stable delivery of produced water, avoiding secondary pollution; the pure water tank is equipped with a 0.22μm air filter to prevent impurities in the air from entering the water tank and polluting the pure water.

4. Intelligent Control System: Adopting PLC + color touch screen (HMI) automatic control mode, equipped with online monitoring equipment such as resistivity sensor, TOC analyzer and laser particle counter, which can real-time monitor key parameters such as water production flow rate, water quality and pressure, realize functions such as automatic start-stop of equipment, automatic flushing, water quality exceeding standard alarm/shutdown and operation data recording, support unattended operation, greatly reduce manual operation intensity, and facilitate staff to grasp the system operation status in real time and troubleshoot in time.

(II) Process Route Optimization

Combining the particularity of chip production water and the special requirements of rooftop installation, Anhui Xinke has made targeted optimization on the process route: adopting the full-process technology of “raw water → raw water tank → raw water pump → multi-media filtration → activated carbon filtration → scale inhibitor dosing → security filtration → high-pressure pump → primary RO → secondary RO → EDI electrodeionization → ultraviolet sterilization → pure water tank → pure water delivery pump → production water point”, ensuring that each process can effectively remove impurities in water and achieve layer-by-layer improvement of water quality; optimizing the system recovery rate to ≥ 75%, reducing water waste and the enterprise’s water use cost; adopting lightweight and modular design with compact structure and reasonable layout, perfectly adapting to the rooftop space and load-bearing requirements, facilitating later equipment maintenance and expansion. At the same time, SUS304/316L stainless steel pipes and key components are selected, with electrolytic polishing treatment on the inner wall to prevent ion precipitation and microbial growth, ensuring stable water production purity.

III. Project Implementation and Commissioning

Aiming at the special difficulty of high-altitude installation on the rooftop of the 6th floor of this project, Anhui Xinke attaches great importance to it, completes comprehensive on-site survey, structural load-bearing verification, installation path planning and special technical analysis in advance, and formulates a complete high-altitude hoisting and safe construction plan. The project sets up a special team to clarify the division of labor, strictly control the production cycle, construction quality and progress, and fully follow the industrial water treatment equipment installation specifications and the customer’s new factory management requirements to minimize the impact of construction.

1. Equipment Installation: The project team completes the full-process docking with the customer in advance, accurately determines the equipment installation position and pipeline direction on the rooftop of the 6th floor, coordinates large cranes, professional construction personnel and a full set of installation machinery on site, scientifically organizes high-altitude hoisting operations, and completes the full-process construction of equipment positioning and fixing, pipeline connection and electrical wiring in strict accordance with the design plan to ensure that the equipment is firmly installed, the pipeline is well sealed, and there is no water or air leakage; all pipes adopt UPVC main pipeline and SS304 stainless steel high-pressure pipeline, and the valves are made of corrosion-resistant materials to fully ensure the stability and safety of the system operation.

2. System Commissioning: After the equipment installation is completed, the technical team conducts comprehensive commissioning of the entire system, including backwashing and forward washing of the pre-treatment system, flushing and trial operation of the reverse osmosis membrane, commissioning of the EDI device, parameter setting and calibration of the intelligent control system, etc.; focuses on testing key indicators such as water production flow rate, water quality purity and system energy consumption, and repeatedly optimizes parameters to ensure that the hourly water production is stably 30 cubic meters, the produced water conductivity is ≤ 5μS/cm, the resistivity is ≥ 18.2MΩ·cm, and TOC < 1ppb. All indicators meet the customer’s production requirements and SEMI F63 industry standards.

3. Personnel Training: After the commissioning is qualified, the technical personnel of Anhui Xinke conduct special systematic training for the customer’s operators, covering the equipment working principle, daily operation process, parameter adjustment method, maintenance skills, fault troubleshooting points and other contents, ensuring that the customer’s staff can proficiently operate the equipment, independently complete daily maintenance and simple fault handling, and ensure the long-term stable operation of the system.

The entire project, from scheme design, equipment production, on-site hoisting and installation, commissioning to personnel training, was completed in only 35 days, passed the customer acceptance at one time, and was officially put into use synchronously with the new factory production line, perfectly achieving the project goal of “rapid landing and efficient compliance”.

IV. Project Application Effects and Customer Feedback

Since the 30m³/h reverse osmosis equipment was put into operation, it has completely solved the core pain points of the customer’s new factory production water, provided stable and high-quality pure water guarantee for chip production, achieved significant economic and social benefits, and won high recognition from the customer.

(I) Core Application Effects

1. Stable and Up-to-standard Water Quality: The entire system operates stably, and the water production purity continuously meets the requirements of chip production. The conductivity is stably maintained at 3-5μS/cm, the resistivity is ≥ 18.2MΩ·cm, TOC < 1ppb, and particles < 1 piece/ml (particle size < 0.05μm), which effectively avoids production interruption and product yield reduction caused by substandard water quality. The chip yield is increased by more than 8%, which greatly reduces the enterprise’s production cost and loss.

2. Efficient and Stable Water Supply: The system realizes stable water supply of 30 cubic meters per hour, adapting to the 24-hour continuous operation demand of the customer’s production line. The water supply pressure is stably maintained at 0.4-0.6MPa, without water cut-off or interruption, ensuring the orderly progress of each link of chip production. The production efficiency is increased by more than 12%; the system recovery rate is ≥ 75%, which is 20% higher than the original water supply method in terms of water resource utilization rate, saving nearly 200,000 tons of water resources every year and practicing the concept of green production.

3. Significant Energy Saving and Consumption Reduction: High-efficiency and energy-saving high-pressure pumps and imported RO membrane elements are adopted, and the system operation parameters are optimized, so that the overall energy consumption is reduced by more than 15%; the equipment maintenance cycle is extended to 6 months, and the maintenance cost is reduced by 30%, which can save the customer nearly 100,000 yuan in energy consumption and maintenance costs every year; at the same time, the EDI device replaces the traditional chemically regenerated ion exchange resin, reducing energy consumption by 40%, further reducing the enterprise’s operation cost and environmental protection pressure.

4. Intelligent and Convenient: The PLC intelligent control system realizes unattended operation of the equipment. Staff can real-time monitor the system operation status through the touch screen and complete equipment start-stop, flushing and other operations with one click, which greatly reduces manual operation intensity and labor cost; the system has a complete fault alarm function, which can timely warn of water quality fluctuations, equipment failures and other problems, facilitating rapid troubleshooting and handling, and the equipment failure rate is reduced by more than 80%.

(II) Customer Feedback

The production director of Duocheng Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. said: “The 30m³/h reverse osmosis equipment provided by Anhui Xinke fully meets the strict requirements of our chip production for high-purity water. The water production is stable, the energy consumption is low, and the maintenance is convenient, which completely solves the worries about water use in our new factory. During the project implementation, the Xinke team was professional and efficient, completed the on-site survey and technical analysis in advance, completed the equipment production within the agreed cycle, organized the on-site hoisting and installation in an orderly manner, followed up the installation and commissioning throughout the process, and provided thoughtful service. The subsequent maintenance support is timely and in place, escorting our production. Choosing Anhui Xinke is a very correct decision, and we look forward to further deepening cooperation in the future to jointly help the high-quality development of the chip industry.”

V. Case Summary

The successful application of the 30m³/h reverse osmosis equipment on the rooftop of the 6th floor of Duocheng Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd.’s new factory is a benchmark project of Anhui Xinke in the high-end industrial water treatment field, fully demonstrating the company’s comprehensive strength in customized scheme design, high-end equipment manufacturing, complex working condition construction and full-process after-sales service. The extremely strict requirements of chip production for water quality test the technical level and landing ability of water treatment enterprises. With years of technical accumulation, Anhui Xinke accurately grasps the industry needs, specifically solves multiple problems such as high-altitude installation, water quality compliance and stable water supply, not only solves the customer’s core pain points, but also reduces the customer’s operation cost and improves production efficiency, practicing the development concept of “energy saving, environmental protection and high efficiency”.

In the future, Anhui Xinke will continue to deepen its roots in the industrial water treatment field, focus on the water treatment needs of high-end manufacturing industries such as semiconductors and chips, continuously optimize technologies and products, improve service quality, develop more efficient, energy-saving and intelligent water treatment solutions, provide reliable water quality guarantee for more enterprises, help the high-quality development of high-end manufacturing industries, and guard every drop of “production lifeline” with professional strength.