JP5009705B2 - Resin removal system for volatile organic substances - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a volatile organic matter removal system, and in particular, removes volatile organic matter regardless of chemical reaction by absorbing the volatile organic matter in a resin having a porous void structure such as silicone rubber. The present invention relates to a system for removing volatile organic substances by using a resin.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a clean room for semiconductor manufacturing, contamination by a small amount of a chemical substance has been a problem that the yield of devices is lowered. One of such contaminants is volatile organic matter (hereinafter referred to as VOC). This VOC is present everywhere in the air of a clean room, in a process apparatus, in a wafer box, and the like, and this causes many problems due to a small amount of adsorption on the silicon surface during the wafer transfer process.

  For example, VOC is adsorbed before and after thermal oxide film formation in the device manufacturing process to reduce the reliability of the thermal oxide film, and chemical vapor deposition (film generation) is performed after the wafer is stored for a long time after pretreatment. When this is done, there has been a problem that the film growth start is delayed due to the adsorption of VOC, which causes variations in film thickness.

In recent years, as a countermeasure against such contamination by chemical substances, a method of dissolving and removing a small amount of chemical substances in water using a washer or the like has been adopted. However, since VOC is insoluble in water, this method is not applicable. There wasn't. Therefore, conventionally, as a method of removing VOC, a technique using an activated carbon filter or a chemical filter has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
JP 2004-20120 A JP 2006-142233 A

  However, the method using the activated carbon filter or the chemical filter as described above has a problem that the running cost becomes very high because the filter needs to be frequently replaced.

  In addition, VOC is one of the substances that cause the generation of suspended particulate matter and photochemical oxidants. From the viewpoint of preventing air pollution, VOC emission regulations are imposed on printing factories that use large amounts of VOC. Has been done. However, the actual situation is that there is no inexpensive apparatus for separating and concentrating and removing VOC efficiently.

  The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and the object thereof is utility and economy that can be used for a long period of time without requiring replacement of the filter. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for removing volatile organic substances using a resin having excellent properties.

In order to achieve the above object, a system for removing volatile organic substances using a resin according to claim 1 includes the volatile organic substance absorption chamber into which air to be subjected to a predetermined volatile organic substance removing process is introduced, and the volatile organic substance absorption chamber. The volatile organic substance discharge chamber for releasing the volatile organic substance is provided, and the silicone rubber , which is a resin having a void structure , is configured to be circulated and moved between the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber at a predetermined speed, and the absorption chamber Includes a processing target air supply duct for introducing the processing target air into the absorption chamber, and a post-processing air supply duct for supplying the air from which volatile organic substances have been removed to a desired location, and a pressurizing means for the absorption chamber at a predetermined pressurized state in order to absorb the volatile organic substances the silicone rubber, the absorption chamber A flange to be erected from the inner surface provided, the release chamber, air or an air or inert gas supply duct for introducing an inert gas into said discharge chamber, said supplied release chamber the air or A post-treatment air discharge duct is provided for discharging volatile organic substances together with an inert gas to the outside of the discharge chamber, and the inside of the discharge chamber is brought into a predetermined reduced pressure state in order to release the volatile organic substances from the silicone rubber. And a flange standing from an inner surface of the discharge chamber .

According to the invention described in claim 1 having the above-described configuration , the silicone rubber , which is a resin having a void structure, takes in (physically absorbs) a volatile organic substance into the void without a chemical reaction. By using this, it is possible to provide a volatile organic substance removal system using a highly useful resin that can be used for a long period of time with a simple configuration. In addition, the use of silicone rubber is particularly effective for removing toluene. Since silicone rubber is hardly oxidized in normal temperature air, it can be used semi-permanently, so it is excellent in economic efficiency. Furthermore, since silicone rubber is not toxic, even when touched, it has no health hazard and is excellent in safety.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the resin volatile organic substance removal system according to the first aspect, wherein the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber are formed by partitioning a cylindrical chamber with a partition wall, and the gap The resin having the structure is configured to rotate between the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber at a predetermined speed.

  According to the invention described in claim 2 having the above-described configuration, the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber are integrally formed in one cylindrical chamber, and the resin having a void structure is formed between the absorption chamber and the absorption chamber. By being configured to rotate between the discharge chambers, it is possible to provide a volatile organic substance removal system using a resin having a compact configuration.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the system for removing volatile organic substances by the resin according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the resin has a high vapor partial pressure of the volatile organic substance around the resin. The volatile organic substance is absorbed into the resin, and when the vapor partial pressure is low, the volatile organic substance is released out of the resin.

  According to the invention of claim 3 having the above-described configuration, the volatile organic substance absorbing resin absorbs volatile organic substances when the vapor partial pressure around the resin is high, and the vapor partial pressure is low. Since it has the effect of releasing volatile organic matter, it does not involve chemical reaction, functions only as a volatile organic matter transport medium, and circulates between the absorption chamber and the release chamber. There is nothing to do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the system for removing volatile organic substances by the resin according to any one of the first to third aspects, the pressurizing means is disposed in the processing target air supply duct. It is a pressurizing fan, and the decompression means is a decompression fan disposed in the post-treatment air discharge duct.
According to the invention described in claim 4 having the above-described configuration, both the pressurizing unit and the depressurizing unit can have a simple configuration.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the replacement | exchange system of the volatile organic substance by the resin excellent in usefulness and economical efficiency which can be used for a long period of time which did not need replacement | exchange of a filter can be provided.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) of a volatile organic substance removal system using a resin (silicone rubber) according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) Configuration In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a partition wall 2 that divides the chamber into two in the vertical direction is provided in a cylindrical chamber 1. The inside is divided into a VOC absorption chamber 10 and a VOC discharge chamber 20.

  Further, a rotating shaft 4 of a rotating rotor 3 having a predetermined amount of chip-like silicone rubber 5 filled between the upper and lower surfaces is formed at the center of the partition wall 2 by a punching plate 3a. Is configured to rotate at a predetermined rotational speed.

(VOC absorption chamber)
A processing target air supply duct 11 for introducing air containing VOC contaminated in a clean room or the like into the VOC absorption chamber 10 is connected to the bottom surface of the VOC absorption chamber 10. A pressurizing fan 12 and a first filter 13 are provided, and the pressurizing fan 12 is configured so that the inside of the VOC absorption chamber 10 can be brought into a predetermined pressurizing state. Further, a post-treatment air supply duct 14 is provided on the upper surface of the VOC absorption chamber 10 to return the air from which the VOC has been removed to a clean room or the like again.

  A semicircular first flange 15 is provided on the inner side surface of the VOC absorption chamber 10 at a position where it abuts the lower surface of the rotary rotor 3, and the VOC absorption chamber 10 is divided into upper and lower sides of the rotary rotor 3. It is configured to be able to. In other words, the air before and after the VOC absorption treatment by the chip-like silicone rubber 5 filled in the rotating rotor 3 is configured not to be mixed.

(VOC release chamber)
An air or inert gas supply duct 21 for introducing air or inert gas into the VOC discharge chamber 20 is connected to the upper surface of the VOC discharge chamber 20. A second filter 22 is provided.

  Further, a post-treatment air discharge duct 23 for sending air or an inert gas containing VOC discharged in the VOC discharge chamber 20 to a VOC decomposition device such as a thermal catalytic combustion device is provided on the lower surface of the VOC discharge chamber 20. Is connected. The post-process air discharge duct 23 is provided with a decompression fan 24, and the decompression fan 24 is configured so that the inside of the VOC discharge chamber 20 can be brought into a predetermined decompression state.

  In addition, a semicircular second flange 25 is provided on the inner surface of the VOC discharge chamber 20 at a position in contact with the upper surface of the rotary rotor 3, so that the VOC discharge chamber 20 can be divided into upper and lower portions of the rotary rotor 3. It is configured as follows. In other words, the air before and after the VOC release process by the chip-like silicone rubber 5 filled in the rotary rotor 3 is configured not to be mixed.

  When dimethylpolysiloxane is used as the silicone rubber, VOCs such as toluene, benzene, xylene, cyclohexane and the like can be absorbed (dissolved), but is particularly suitable for removing toluene.

(2) Operating Principle Here, the operating principle of the volatile organic substance removal system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows an experimental apparatus for verifying the VOC absorption and release functions of silicone rubber.

  3A shows the case where toluene is supplied to the VOC absorption / release chamber, and FIG. 3B shows the case where toluene released from the VOC absorption / release chamber is measured. The device is shown.

  The VOC absorption / release chamber 30 in this experimental apparatus has a plastic tube connector 32 (inner diameter: about Φ4 mm) at both ends of a silicone tube 31 (inner diameter: Φ15 mm, wall thickness: 2.5 mm, length: 80 mm). It is attached.

  One end of a vinyl tube 33 having an inner diameter of Φ4 mm is attached to the tip of the tube connector 32. When supplying toluene into the silicone tube 31, a 200 ml syringe 34 is attached to the other end of the vinyl tube 33. It is comprised so that it may connect (refer FIG. 3 (A)). On the other hand, when measuring the toluene concentration, the other end of the vinyl tube 33 is connected to a toluene detection tube 35 (measurement range: 10 to 300 ppm) (see FIG. 3B).

The experiment was performed according to the following procedure.
First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the tip of the tube connector 32 of the VOC absorption / release chamber 30 is connected to a 200 ml syringe 34 via a vinyl tube 33, and about 0.5 ml of toluene (liquid) is injected into the syringe. The toluene (gas) was supplied to the VOC absorption / release chamber 30 several times by a syringe 34 while being vaporized in the chamber 34. Thereafter, the syringe 34 was removed from the vinyl tube 33, and clean air was supplied into the VOC absorption / release chamber 30 to purge toluene.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3B, a toluene detection tube 35 (measurement range: 10 to 300 ppm) is connected to the tip of the tube connector 32 of the VOC absorption / release chamber 30 through the vinyl tube 33, The air inside was collected by suction with a gas collector (GV-100S manufactured by Gastec). The pressure in the chamber at that time was −8 mmAq, and the concentration of toluene was about 50 ppm. The gas was sampled several times, but the toluene concentration was almost the same value.

  As a result of conducting the experiment in the above procedure, the silicone rubber absorbs toluene when the vapor partial pressure of toluene (gas) around the rubber is high (when pressurized, see FIG. 3A), and the vapor partial pressure is When it was low (see FIG. 3B when decompressing), it was confirmed that toluene was released.

(3) Operation The volatile organic substance removal system using the resin according to this embodiment having the above-described configuration operates as follows.

  First, the pressurization fan 12 is operated so that the inside of the VOC absorption chamber 10 is in a predetermined pressurization state, and the rotary rotor 3 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed. As a result, air containing VOC is pressurized and supplied into the VOC absorption chamber 10 through the air supply duct 11 to be processed, and the toluene (gas) around the chip-like silicone rubber 5 filled in the rotary rotor 3 is supplied. ) Vapor partial pressure increases, so that VOC in the air is absorbed by the chip-like silicone rubber 5.

  As a result, the air supplied into the upper space of the VOC absorption chamber 10 becomes clean air from which the VOC has been removed, and this clean air is supplied again to the clean room or the like via the post-processing air supply duct 14. .

  On the other hand, the VOC absorbed by the chip-like silicone rubber 5 in the rotating rotor 3 is discharged in the VOC discharge chamber 20 as follows.

  That is, by operating the decompression fan 24, the inside of the VOC discharge chamber 20 is brought into a predetermined decompression state, and the air or the inert gas supply duct 21 is connected to the upper space of the VOC discharge chamber 20 in the air. Alternatively, an inert gas is supplied.

  Further, when the rotary rotor 3 that has absorbed the VOC in the VOC absorption chamber 10 is gradually rotated and the portion that has absorbed the VOC moves into the VOC discharge chamber 20 that has been decompressed by the decompression fan 24, the chip is decompressed. Since the vapor partial pressure of toluene (gas) around the silicone rubber 5 is lowered, the VOC absorbed in the silicone rubber 5 is released. The discharged VOC is sent to a VOC decomposition apparatus such as a thermal catalytic combustion apparatus through the post-treatment air discharge duct 23 and processed. Or it is released into the atmosphere as it is.

  Thus, the chip-like silicone rubber 5 filled between the upper and lower punching plates 3a rotates and moves between the VOC absorption chamber 10 and the VOC release chamber 20 at a predetermined speed, and separates and concentrates the VOC to obtain the VOC. It serves to pump out the absorption chamber 10.

(4) Effect As described above, according to the volatile organic substance removal system using the resin of the present embodiment, a resin having a porous void structure such as silicone rubber can be formed in the void without any chemical reaction. By utilizing the property of taking in (physically absorbing) the volatile organic substance removal system, which can be used for a long period of time with a simple configuration, can be provided.

  In addition, the silicone rubber used in the volatile organic matter removal system of the present embodiment has an action of absorbing VOC when the vapor partial pressure around the rubber is high and releasing it when low, and is not accompanied by a chemical reaction. Therefore, it does not deteriorate.

  In addition, since silicone rubber is hardly oxidized in the air at room temperature, it can be used semipermanently, so that it is excellent in economic efficiency. Furthermore, since silicone rubber is not toxic, even when touched, it has no health hazard and is excellent in safety.

(5) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and specific shapes of members, mounting positions, and methods can be appropriately changed. For example, in the above embodiment, the VOC absorption chamber 10 and the VOC release chamber 20 are integrally configured. However, if the silicone rubber for VOC absorption / discharge is configured to move between the chambers at a constant cycle, It may be installed separately.

  The silicone rubber used for VOC absorption / release is a resin having a porous void structure and has the property of taking VOCs into the voids (physically absorbing) without chemical reaction. In addition to the silicone rubber shown in the above embodiment, an ion exchange resin or the like can be used.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the removal system of the volatile organic substance by resin which concerns on this invention. It is AA 'sectional drawing of the removal system of the volatile organic substance by the resin shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the experimental apparatus for verifying the VOC absorption and discharge | release function of silicone rubber, (A) is an experimental apparatus in the case of supplying toluene to a VOC absorption / release chamber, (B) is from a VOC absorption / release chamber. It is a figure which shows the experimental apparatus in the case of measuring the emitted toluene.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Chamber 2 ... Partition 3 ... Rotating rotor 4 ... Rotating shaft 5 ... Silicone rubber 10 ... VOC absorption chamber 11 ... Processing object air supply duct 12 ... Fan for pressurization 13 ... First filter 14 ... After-treatment air supply duct 15 ... First flange 20 ... VOC discharge chamber 21 ... Air or inert gas supply duct 22 ... Second filter 23 ... Post-treatment air discharge duct 24 ... Depressurization fan 30 ... VOC absorption / discharge chamber 31 ... Silicone tube 32 ... Tube Connector 33 ... Vinyl tube 34 ... Syringe 35 ... Detector tube for toluene

Claims (4)

The volatile organic matter releasing chamber for releasing the volatile organic matter is provided together with the volatile organic matter absorbing chamber into which air to be subjected to a predetermined volatile organic matter removing process is introduced,
Silicone rubber , which is a resin having a void structure , is configured so as to be able to circulate at a predetermined speed between the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber,
The absorption chamber is provided with a processing target air supply duct for introducing the processing target air into the absorption chamber and a post-processing air supply duct for supplying the air from which volatile organic substances have been removed to a desired place. And a pressure means for bringing the inside of the absorption chamber into a predetermined pressure state in order to absorb the volatile organic matter in the silicone rubber, and a flange erected from the inner surface of the absorption chamber ,
The discharge chamber includes an air or inert gas supply duct for introducing air or an inert gas into the discharge chamber, and volatile organic substances together with the air or the inert gas supplied into the discharge chamber. A post-treatment air discharge duct for discharging the volatile organic matter from the silicone rubber , and a pressure reducing means for bringing the inside of the discharge chamber into a predetermined reduced pressure state in order to release the volatile organic matter from the silicone rubber ; A system for removing volatile organic substances using a resin, characterized in that a flange standing from the inner surface is provided. The absorption chamber and the discharge chamber are formed by partitioning a cylindrical chamber with a partition wall,
The system for removing volatile organic substances using a resin according to claim 1, wherein the resin having the void structure is configured to rotate and move between the absorption chamber and the discharge chamber at a predetermined speed.   The resin absorbs the volatile organic substance into the resin when the vapor partial pressure of the volatile organic substance around the resin is high, and releases the volatile organic substance out of the resin when the vapor partial pressure is low. The system for removing volatile organic substances using a resin according to claim 1 or 2, wherein   The pressurizing means is a pressurizing fan disposed in the processing target air supply duct, and the decompressing means is a decompressing fan disposed in the post-treatment air discharge duct. The removal system of the volatile organic substance by the resin as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3.

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