Industry Solutions :Semi-conductor Cooling

Feature Article
Industry Solutions :Semi-conductor Cooling

BPHE

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Kaori has been providing products and services to manufacturers across various industries for over 40 years. We understand that delivering high-quality, reliable, and cost-competitive products for you and your customers is essential.
Kaori’s standard K Series brazed plate heat exchangers are a trusted choice for thermal solutions in oil cooling, laser cutting, power generation systems, and other industries. Our diagonal flow Z Series is designed to meet demands for higher flow rates and superior performance. We continuously improve product quality and performance while reducing production costs, striving to remain your most reliable partner for thermal solutions.

In semiconductor manufacturing processes, working fluids must be both heated and cooled. Highly efficient, cost-effective, and straightforward thermal solutions are required in these precision-driven environments.

In front-end semiconductor manufacturing processes, although each process step serves a different function, they all share one critical requirement — a strong reliance on stable and precise temperature control systems.

During operation, process equipment often generates a significant amount of heat, which must be effectively dissipated through liquid-cooled process equipment (such as chiller systems). For processes conducted under vacuum or high-vacuum conditions (Gas Chiller applications), cryogenic or chilled vacuum pumps are required to ensure process stability.

In these applications, brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHE) provide highly efficient and low-energy thermal exchange solutions, helping to enhance process performance and ensure long-term stable operation.

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in the Semiconductor Industry

Liquid-Cooled Process Equipment
Liquid-Cooled Process Equipment

Front-End Semiconductor Manufacturing Process	Back-End Semiconductor Manufacturing Process

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in Air-Cooled Liquid Chillers

In air-cooled chiller systems, brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHE) are commonly used as evaporators. In addition to standard single-loop configurations, BPHE can also support dual-compressor and dual-refrigerant loop designs.

With a single BPHE, the system can flexibly respond to varying load demands: operating one compressor under low load conditions and activating the second compressor when demand increases. This configuration ensures stable cooling capacity while significantly improving energy efficiency.

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in Water-Cooled Liquid Chillers

In water-cooled chiller systems, BPHE can be flexibly configured as either evaporators or condensers to achieve efficient heat exchange.

The cooling water loop can directly dissipate process heat to the environment through a dry cooler, effectively reducing system temperature.

At the same time, BPHE can be integrated with heat recovery systems to reclaim excess heat for applications such as cleaning and thermal maintenance processes, further improving energy efficiency and supporting sustainable manufacturing.

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in Cryogenic Pumps

In semiconductor manufacturing, cryogenic pumps are commonly used to create high or ultra-high vacuum environments, particularly in front-end processes such as CVD, PVD, and etching.

These pumps utilize cooling media such as helium or nitrogen. BPHE is typically used for water-cooled heat dissipation, acting as a condenser. The heat can be discharged through a dry cooler or recovered and reused in other processes, improving overall energy efficiency.

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in Free Cooling

Free cooling refers to using ambient conditions for cooling when the outdoor temperature is lower than the required process cooling water temperature, eliminating the need to run compressors.

Under such conditions, BPHE combined with equipment such as dry coolers can introduce external low-temperature energy into the system for cooling. This significantly improves SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio), representing the system’s average efficiency throughout the year.

(The higher the SEER, the more efficient the energy usage and the lower the overall operating cost.)

Applications of Plate Heat Exchangers in Hybrid Cooling Systems

Hybrid cooling has become a key trend in advanced process cooling systems. By combining traditional air-cooled operation with free cooling, the system can automatically switch modes based on ambient temperature and load demand:

High-temperature conditions: Compressor-based cooling is used, with BPHE functioning as an evaporator for efficient heat removal.
Low-temperature conditions: The system switches to free cooling mode, where a dry cooler and coil handle heat dissipation, while BPHE acts as a water-side heat exchanger transferring process heat to an external cooling source.

Compared to conventional designs, BPHE features a compact size and high thermal efficiency, allowing integration into a single chiller unit and enabling flexible dual-mode operation for energy-saving and sustainable process cooling.

☑︎ Recommended Models >>> K Series, R Series, C Series

Contact Us

Kaori’s team is ready to provide you with customized high-efficiency thermal solutions for industrial applications. Please feel free to contact us (sales@kaori.com.tw).