Capturing energy-saving opportunities in make-up air systems for cleanrooms of high-technology fabrication plant in subtropical climate

Operation of make-up air units (MAUs) for cleanrooms of high-technology fabrication plant in subtropical climates is very energy intensive, in that it is expected to deliver conditioned air at elevated airflow rates, compared to conventional commercial applications. Optimizing the design of MAU via reducing or displacing mechanical cooling or electrical heating processes can improve energy efficiency in cleanrooms since cleanroom air-conditioning systems typically use 30–65% of the total energy consumption in a high-tech fabrication plant [1]. This paper investigates the difference in energy efficiency performance of MAU systems with different pre-cooling and preheating/humidification schemes. Additionally, a comparative study was carried out for humidification schemes including wet media, directly atomized water, steam, and two-phase flow. The results show that energy recovery by DCC water return method exhibits the best energy efficiency among a total of eight schemes evaluated in this study. In addition, wet media scheme is the best humidification scheme in winter time, compared with the other three types of humidification schemes.

Research highlights▶ Air-conditioning systems typically use 30–65% of the energy in a high-tech fab. ▶ Dry Cooling Coil water return method is the best energy-recovery method studied. ▶ Wet media scheme is the most energy efficient humidification scheme investigated.