JP7650118B2 - Cooling and heating equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cooling and heating device, and in particular to a cooling and heating device used to adjust various manufacturing equipment such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and various measuring equipment to a predetermined temperature.

In general, in semiconductor manufacturing and the like, it is necessary to control the temperature of manufacturing equipment, etc. so that the temperatures of the workpiece processing points, measurement points, etc., are set to predetermined temperatures according to each manufacturing process. Conventionally, as a device for performing such temperature control, a cooling and heating device has a circulation path through which a heat medium circulates, and the heat medium circulating through the circulation path cools or heats a control object whose temperature needs to be adjusted. This type of cooling and heating device is equipped with a chiller or the like of a vapor compression refrigeration cycle that cools the circulating heat medium, and a heater or the like that heats the cooled heat medium.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a hybrid chiller with area-specific parameter control used to control the temperature of various devices and processes, such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The hybrid chiller with area-specific parameter control disclosed in the document has a circulating fluid circulation circuit that supplies circulating fluid cooled to a predetermined temperature by a refrigeration cycle to a controlled object, and a second circulating fluid circulation circuit that supplies circulating fluid cooled to a predetermined temperature by cooling water cooled in a cooling tower to the controlled object. A heater that heats the circulating fluid is provided in the circulating fluid supply path that sends the circulating fluid to the controlled object.

With this configuration, the circulating fluid to be supplied to the controlled object is cooled by selectively using either the method of cooling the circulating fluid using the refrigeration cycle or the method of cooling the circulating fluid using cooling water from a cooling tower. The circulating fluid cooled by the refrigeration cycle or the cooling tower is heated to a predetermined temperature by a heater or other heating device and supplied to the controlled object.

For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a cooling device that includes a first circulation system that circulates a first refrigerant in a condenser via a pump, a heater, a throttle valve, and an evaporator back to the condenser, and a second circulation system that includes a heat exchanger disposed in the condenser and circulates a second refrigerant that cools the first refrigerant.

The first circulation system cools the object to be cooled by the latent heat of vaporization of the first refrigerant boiling in the evaporator. The second circulation system has a compressor, a second condenser, an expansion valve, and a heat exchanger, and in the heat exchanger provided inside the condenser of the first circulation system, the latent heat of vaporization of the second refrigerant is used to cool and condense the first refrigerant.

The document also discloses that a second heat exchanger is provided as a heater for the first circulation system, which heats the first refrigerant by condensing the second refrigerant. The second refrigerant in the second circulation system is pressurized by a compressor and sent to the second heat exchanger, where it heats the first refrigerant in the first circulation system.

JP 2015-59726 A JP 2022-20088 A

However, the cooling and heating devices of the conventional technology described above had areas that needed improvement in order to shorten the time required for temperature adjustment to improve the efficiency of the production process in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc., as well as to reduce the amount of energy consumed for temperature adjustment to save energy.

Specifically, in semiconductor manufacturing and the like, the temperature of a controlled object, such as manufacturing equipment, may be changed in response to a processing process, measurement process, etc. For example, in a process where the set temperature of the controlled object was controlled at -40°C, the set temperature may need to be changed to 130°C. In such cases, with conventional cooling and heating devices, it takes a long time to change the temperature of the controlled object to the specified set temperature. The time required to change the temperature of the controlled object in this way results in lost time in the manufacturing process.

In other words, in conventional cooling and heating devices, in order to change the set temperature of the controlled object and raise the temperature, it was necessary to heat the circulating fluid for a long period of time using a heater such as an electric heater. The process of heating the circulating fluid using a heater or the like to raise the temperature of the controlled object is continued until the temperature of the controlled object reaches a stable set temperature. The time it takes to heat the circulating fluid using a heater or the like to raise the temperature of the controlled object represents a waiting time during which processing processes, measurement processes, etc. cannot be carried out in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc.

In addition, the cooling and heating device of the prior art is configured to cool the circulating fluid in an evaporator of a refrigeration cycle circuit, and then heat the cooled circulating fluid to a predetermined temperature using a heater or other heating device. This poses the problem that the energy consumed to heat the circulating fluid, i.e., the amount of electricity consumed by the heater or other device, becomes large.

In response to this, Patent Document 2 discloses that the second refrigerant in the second circulation system, which cools the first refrigerant in the first circulation system using the latent heat of evaporation, heats the first refrigerant in the second heat exchanger using the latent heat of condensation. In this way, by heating the first refrigerant, which corresponds to the circulating fluid supplied to the controlled object, using the latent heat of condensation of the second refrigerant, which is the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of heaters and the like required to heat the circulating fluid.

However, it is difficult to heat the circulating liquid to a high temperature using the method of heating the circulating liquid by using the latent heat of condensation of the refrigerant condensed in the condenser of the refrigeration cycle circuit, as in the cooling device disclosed in Patent Document 2. Therefore, even if the circulating liquid is heated by using the latent heat of condensation of the refrigerant, when the set temperature of the controlled object is high and the circulating liquid needs to be heated to a high temperature, a lot of heating is required by a heater such as an electric heater, and the amount of heat of the heater cannot be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, even in a configuration that uses a condenser in a refrigeration cycle circuit to heat the circulating fluid, if the set temperature of the controlled object is changed to significantly increase the temperature of the circulating fluid, it takes time to change the temperature, resulting in a time loss before processing processes, measurement processes, etc. can be started.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cooling and heating device that can improve productivity in semiconductor manufacturing and the like by shortening the time required for temperature adjustment when changing the set temperature, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling/heating device that can reduce the amount of energy consumed in semiconductor manufacturing and the like, thereby achieving energy conservation.

The cooling and heating device of the present invention comprises a refrigeration cycle circuit in which a compression means, a gas cooler, a throttling means and an evaporator are connected in sequence and a refrigerant circulates, and a circulating fluid circuit in which a circulation pump and a heater are provided and a circulating fluid that adjusts the temperature of a controlled object circulates, the circulating fluid circuit having a low-temperature path that can be opened and closed freely and in which the circulating fluid flows through the evaporator so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant, and a high-temperature path that can be opened and closed freely and in which the circulating fluid flows through the gas cooler so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant, and the high-temperature path is characterized in that a high-temperature tank is provided in which the circulating fluid that has been heated by the refrigerant in the gas cooler is stored.

According to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, a refrigeration cycle circuit in which a compression means, a gas cooler, a throttling means, and an evaporator are connected in sequence and a refrigerant circulates, and a circulating fluid circuit in which a circulation pump and a heater are provided and a circulating fluid that adjusts the temperature of a controlled object circulates, the circulating fluid circuit having a freely openable/closable low-temperature path in which the circulating fluid flows through the evaporator so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant, and a freely openable high-temperature path in which the circulating fluid flows through the gas cooler so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant. With this configuration, the cooling and heating device can perform highly efficient temperature adjustment of a controlled object such as a semiconductor manufacturing device by supplying cooled or heated circulating fluid to the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle circuit.

Specifically, when the controlled object needs to be cooled, the low-temperature path of the circulating fluid circuit is opened so that the circulating fluid flows through the low-temperature path. The circulating fluid then flows through the low-temperature path and is cooled using the latent heat of the refrigerant that evaporates in the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle circuit. The circulating fluid cooled in the refrigeration cycle circuit is then heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater in the circulating fluid circuit and supplied to the controlled object at a suitable temperature so that the controlled object reaches the set temperature.

Furthermore, when the temperature of the circulating fluid returning from the controlled object is low and it is necessary to significantly increase the temperature of the circulating fluid, the high temperature path of the circulating fluid circuit is opened so that the circulating fluid flows through the high temperature path. This allows the cooling and heating device to heat the circulating fluid by utilizing the heat radiation of the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler of the refrigeration cycle circuit. The circulating fluid heated by the gas cooler of the refrigeration cycle circuit is then heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater of the circulating fluid circuit and supplied to the controlled object at a suitable temperature so that the controlled object has an accurate set temperature. In this way, the circulating fluid can be heated by utilizing the heat radiation from the gas cooler of the refrigeration cycle circuit, so that highly efficient temperature adjustment can be performed by keeping the energy consumed by the heater of the circulating fluid circuit low.
In this manner, the cooling/heating device of the present invention can perform highly efficient temperature adjustment with little exhaust heat loss by utilizing both cold and hot heat generated in the refrigeration cycle circuit.

In addition, the high-temperature path is provided with a high-temperature tank that stores the circulating fluid that has been heated by the refrigerant in the gas cooler. As a result, for example, when changing the set temperature of the controlled object due to a change in the processing process or the like and significantly increasing the temperature of the circulating fluid, the high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank can be supplied to the circulating fluid circuit, and the temperature of the circulating fluid circulating through the circulating fluid circuit can be rapidly increased to a predetermined temperature in a short period of time. This significantly shortens the time required to change the set temperature, and reduces the time lost due to the temperature change before starting the processing process, measurement process, etc.

In addition, according to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, the refrigerant may be carbon dioxide, and the circulating liquid may be heated at supercritical pressure in the gas cooler. This allows the circulating liquid to be efficiently heated to a high temperature.

Specifically, the circulating liquid can be heated by the gas cooler of the refrigeration cycle circuit to a high temperature range that was not possible with conventional condensers such as chillers that use HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) refrigerants, HFO (hydrofluoroolefin) refrigerants, or mixed refrigerants. Therefore, even when the set temperature is changed to a high temperature such as 130°C due to a change in the processing process, the temperature of the circulating liquid can be raised to a high temperature in a short time. This reduces the time loss caused by temperature adjustment and improves the productivity of semiconductor devices, etc. In addition, the amount of heat generated by the heater in the circulating liquid circuit can be reduced, thereby reducing energy consumption by the heater and achieving energy conservation.

According to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, the refrigeration cycle circuit may be provided with a second gas cooler downstream of the gas cooler that releases heat from the refrigerant to the outside. With this configuration, even when the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank becomes hot and there is no need to heat the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path with the refrigerant in the gas cooler, the refrigeration cycle circuit can release heat from the refrigerant in the second gas cooler and cool the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path with the evaporator. Therefore, efficient temperature control is achieved by cooling the circulating liquid using the refrigeration cycle.

In addition, according to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, the gas cooler is provided inside the high-temperature tank so that the refrigerant flows from top to bottom, and the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler may heat the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank. With this configuration, the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank can be heated by the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler even when the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path is not used as the circulating liquid supplied to the control object and the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path is not flowing. In other words, the circulating liquid stored in the high-temperature tank can be heated to a high temperature by the gas cooler without providing a circulation pump or the like that flows the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path for heating by the gas cooler. Therefore, when the refrigeration cycle circuit is operating to cool the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path, the exhaust heat from the gas cooler can be effectively used without circulating the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path.

According to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, the low-temperature path may be provided with a low-temperature tank for storing the circulating fluid, a low-temperature pump for sending the circulating fluid, and a low-temperature circulation path for returning the circulating fluid to the inlet side of the low-temperature path without sending it to the controlled object. By providing the low-temperature tank, when the set temperature of the controlled object is changed due to a change in the processing step or the like to significantly lower the temperature of the circulating fluid, the low-temperature circulating fluid stored in the low-temperature tank can be supplied to the circulating fluid circuit, and the temperature of the circulating fluid circulating through the circulating fluid circuit can be rapidly lowered to a predetermined temperature in a short time. This significantly shortens the time required to change the set temperature, thereby reducing the time loss associated with the temperature change until the start of the processing step, measurement step, or the like.

In addition, the low-temperature path is provided with a low-temperature pump that sends the circulating liquid, and a low-temperature circulation path that returns the circulating liquid from the outlet side to the inlet side of the low-temperature path. Therefore, even when the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path is not used as the circulating liquid to be supplied to the controlled object, the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path can be circulated and cooled by the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator. Then, the cooled circulating liquid can be stored in the low-temperature tank. In addition, even when the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path is not supplied to the controlled object, the refrigeration cycle circuit can be operated to heat the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path with the refrigerant in the gas cooler.

According to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, the circulating fluid circuit may be provided with a three-way valve for switching whether or not the circulating fluid returning from the controlled object is sent to the high-temperature path, and a mixing valve for mixing the circulating fluid that has passed through the low-temperature path with the circulating fluid that is supplied to the controlled object, which is provided downstream of the three-way valve. With this configuration, by switching the three-way valve and the mixing valve, it is possible to switch between an operation in which the circulating fluid heated by the gas cooler of the refrigeration cycle circuit is supplied to the controlled object and an operation in which the circulating fluid cooled by the evaporator is supplied to the controlled object. In addition, by adjusting the mixing valve, an operation in which the circulating fluid returned from the controlled object is mixed with the circulating fluid cooled by the evaporator to achieve a suitable temperature can be performed. Furthermore, a temperature adjustment operation can be performed in which the circulating fluid heated by the gas cooler and the circulating fluid cooled by the evaporator are not supplied to the controlled object, and only the circulating fluid returned from the controlled object is heated by a heater and sent to the controlled object for circulation. In this way, the circulating fluid can be circulated through a suitable path depending on the condition of the controlled object, and the temperature of the controlled object can be adjusted efficiently with little energy consumption.

In addition, according to the cooling and heating device of the present invention, there may be a plurality of the controlled objects, and the circulating fluid circuit may be provided with a plurality of circuit modules connected to the low-temperature path and the high-temperature path via a branch pipe, and each of the circuit modules may have the circulating pump and the heater, and may send the circulating fluid to a different controlled object. This allows a single refrigeration cycle circuit to be used to efficiently cool and heat a plurality of controlled objects, such as processing locations and measurement locations, and adjust each to a suitable temperature.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cooling and heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control system of the cooling and heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow path of the circulating fluid in the cooling and heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow path of the circulating fluid in the cooling and heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow path of the circulating fluid in the cooling and heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow path of the circulating fluid in the cooling and heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The cooling and heating device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the illustrated embodiment does not limit the present invention, but merely shows one example of an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cooling/heating device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 1, the cooling/heating device 1 is a device used to adjust a controlled object 46, such as various manufacturing devices such as semiconductor manufacturing devices or various measuring devices used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, to a predetermined temperature according to the process.

The cooling and heating device 1 comprises a refrigeration cycle circuit 10 which constitutes a vapor compression refrigeration cycle and cools or heats a circulating liquid with a refrigerant, and a circulating liquid circuit 20 which circulates the circulating liquid cooled or heated in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 to be sent to a controlled object 46, thereby adjusting the temperature of the controlled object 46.

The circulating fluid circulating through the circulating fluid circuit 20 includes, for example, water. The circulating fluid is cooled or heated by the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10, heated to a suitable temperature by the heater 26 in the circulating fluid circuit 20, and supplied to a controlled object 46 such as a semiconductor manufacturing device. As a result, the controlled object 46 is cooled or heated by the circulating fluid adjusted to a suitable temperature, and is controlled to a suitable temperature suited to each manufacturing process, measurement process, etc.

First, the configuration of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 will be described in detail. The refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is formed by sequentially connecting a compressor 11 as a compression means, a gas cooler 12, a radiator 13 as a second gas cooler, an expansion valve 14 as a throttling means, and an evaporator 15 via refrigerant piping 17. The refrigeration cycle circuit 10 forms a closed circuit in which the refrigerant circulates to operate a vapor compression refrigeration cycle.

The compressor 11 is a compression means that compresses the refrigerant and sends it to the gas cooler 12. As the compressor 11, a rotary type, scroll type, reciprocating type, screw type, or other various types of compression devices can be used.

In particular, the rotary compressor 11 is suitable for constructing a compact cooling/heating device 1 with a small cooling capacity. The compressor 11 may also be a two-stage compression type. The use of a two-stage compression type as the compressor 11 is suitable for compressing the high-pressure carbon dioxide refrigerant.

The gas cooler 12 is a heat exchanger in which heat is exchanged between the high-pressure, high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor 11 and the circulating liquid in the circulating liquid circuit 20. The gas cooler 12 is provided, for example, inside a high-temperature tank 39 in which the circulating liquid is stored, and has multiple tubes through which the refrigerant flows (not shown). The tubes are, for example, steel pipes.

Specifically, the tubes of the gas cooler 12 have an inlet at the top and an outlet at the bottom so that the refrigerant flows from top to bottom, are wound, for example, in a generally spiral shape, and are provided inside the high-temperature tank 39. With this configuration, the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler 12 can efficiently heat the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank 39.

For example, even when the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank 39 is not supplied to the control object 46, i.e., when the circulating liquid is not flowing through the high-temperature path 38 of the circulating liquid circuit 20 in which the high-temperature tank 39 is provided, the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank 39 can be heated by the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler 12.

In other words, with this configuration, in order to heat the circulating liquid in the gas cooler 12, the circulating liquid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 can be heated to a high temperature in the gas cooler 12 without providing a circulation pump or the like to flow the circulating liquid through the high-temperature path 38 of the circulating liquid circuit 20.

Therefore, when the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is operating to cool the circulating liquid by utilizing the latent heat of evaporation of the evaporator 15, the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank 39 can be heated to a high temperature by effectively utilizing the exhaust heat from the gas cooler 12 without circulating the circulating liquid through the high-temperature path 38.

The gas cooler 12 may be provided outside the high-temperature tank 39 as long as the refrigerant can exchange heat with the circulating liquid. For example, the gas cooler 12 may be a plate type, a shell-and-tube type, a double-tube type, or any other type of heat exchanger.

The radiator 13 is a second gas cooler that releases heat from the refrigerant to the outside, and is provided downstream of the gas cooler 12. The radiator 13 is, for example, an air-cooled heat exchanger in which air that exchanges heat with the refrigerant is sent by a blower fan 16. For example, the radiator 13 may be a fin-and-tube heat exchanger (not shown). That is, the radiator 13 has multiple tubes such as copper tubes through which the refrigerant flows, and multiple aluminum fins that are arranged in parallel, and the tubes are inserted into holes formed in the fins.

The radiator 13 may be a water-cooled heat exchanger. In addition, various types of heat exchangers, such as plate type, shell-and-tube type, double-tube type, and others, can be used as the radiator 13. In particular, a plate type heat exchanger is preferable because it has high heat exchange efficiency and allows the radiator 13 to be made compact.

The radiator 13 is provided downstream of the gas cooler 12, so that the refrigerant whose temperature has been lowered by heating the circulating liquid in the gas cooler 12 can be further cooled to a low temperature. In addition, even when the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank 39 becomes hot and there is no need to heat the circulating liquid with the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler 12, the high-temperature refrigerant that has passed through the gas cooler 12 can be cooled by heat radiation in the radiator 13. As a result, even when the high-temperature tank 39 is filled with high-temperature circulating liquid, the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10, i.e., the ability to cool the circulating liquid by utilizing the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant in the evaporator 15, is exerted.

The expansion valve 14 is a throttling means that reduces the pressure of the high-pressure refrigerant that has passed through the gas cooler 12 and the radiator 13 and has become cold. The expansion valve 14 also has the function of adjusting the flow of the refrigerant. As the expansion valve 14, an electronic expansion valve, a thermostatic expansion valve, a capillary tube, or other types of throttling means can be used. By using an electronic expansion valve as the expansion valve 14, the cooling and heating of the circulating liquid by the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 can be controlled with high performance.

The evaporator 15 is a heat exchanger in which the low-pressure liquid refrigerant evaporates and cools the circulating liquid by the latent heat of evaporation. As the evaporator 15, a plate type, double-tube type, tube contact type, shell-and-tube type, or other various types of heat exchanger can be used.

In particular, the plate type heat exchanger is preferred because it has high heat exchange efficiency and allows the evaporator 15 to be made compact. In addition, the double-tube type and tube contact type are excellent in that they are easy to manufacture and process, and suitable pressure resistance can be easily obtained.

The refrigerant pipe 17 downstream of the evaporator 15 is connected to the compressor 11 via an accumulator (not shown). With the above configuration, a closed circuit of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is formed in which the compressor 11, gas cooler 12, radiator 13, expansion valve 14 and evaporator 15 are connected in sequence.

The refrigerant used in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide refrigerant heats the circulating liquid at supercritical pressure in the gas cooler 12. This allows the circulating liquid to be efficiently heated to a high temperature.

Specifically, the gas cooler 12 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 can heat the circulating liquid to high temperature ranges that were not possible with conventional condensers such as chillers that use HFC refrigerants, HFO refrigerants, or mixed refrigerants of these.

For example, the cooling and heating device 1 can raise the temperature of the circulating fluid to a high temperature in a short time, even when the set temperature is changed to a high temperature of 130°C due to a change in the processing process, etc. Thus, the cooling and heating device 1 can reduce the time loss caused by temperature adjustment and improve the productivity of semiconductor devices, etc. In addition, since the amount of heat generated by the heater 26 of the circulating fluid circuit 20 can be reduced, the energy consumption by the heater 26 can be reduced, resulting in energy savings in semiconductor manufacturing, etc.

The refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is also provided with a refrigerant temperature sensor 18 that measures the temperature of the refrigerant, a pressure sensor 19 that measures the pressure of the refrigerant, etc. The control device 43 (see FIG. 2) controls the rotation speed of the compressor 11 and the opening degree of the expansion valve 14 based on the set temperature of the controlled object 46, the measured temperature information, the refrigerant temperature measured by the refrigerant temperature sensor 18, the refrigerant pressure measured by the pressure sensor 19, etc.

Next, the circulating fluid circuit 20 will be described in detail. The circulating fluid circuit 20 constitutes a closed circuit in which the circulating fluid that cools and heats the controlled object 46 circulates. Specifically, the circulating fluid circuit 20 has a plurality of circuit modules 21 that are connected to the controlled object 46 and circulate the circulating fluid, a low-temperature path 31 to which the circuit modules 21 are connected and through which the circulating fluid flows through the evaporator 15 so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant, and a high-temperature path 38 to which the circuit modules 21 are connected and through which the circulating fluid flows through the gas cooler 12 so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant.

The circuit module 21 is a device that supplies circulating fluid to the controlled object 46 to adjust the temperature of the controlled object 46. In each circuit module 21, a basic circulation path 22 is formed, which is a basic closed circuit for circulating the circulating fluid. In detail, the circuit module 21 is formed with the basic circulation path 22, which is a closed circuit that connects a feed path 23 that supplies circulating fluid to the controlled object 46, such as a semiconductor manufacturing device, and a return path 24 that returns the circulating fluid that has cooled or heated the controlled object 46.

The feed path 23 of each circuit module 21 is provided with a circulation pump 25 that sends the circulating fluid to the control object 46, a heater 26 that heats the circulating fluid supplied to the control object 46 to adjust the temperature, and a temperature sensor 27 that measures the temperature of the circulating fluid heated by the heater 26.

The heater 26 is a resistance heating type electric heater, for example a sheath heater in which a nichrome wire as a heating element is covered with a metal pipe. The heater 26 may also be an induction heating type heating means, for example an induction coil connected to an induction heating power source (not shown).

The temperature sensor 27 is provided in the feed path 23 downstream of the heater 26, and measures the temperature of the circulating fluid heated by the heater 26. The circulation pump 25, the heater 26, and the temperature sensor 27 are connected to the control device 43. The control device 43 controls the circulation pump 25 and the heater 26 so that the temperature of the circulating fluid measured by the temperature sensor 27 becomes a predetermined temperature. This controls the temperature of the controlled object 46 to become the set temperature.

In addition, the basic circulation path 22 of each circuit module 21 is provided with an electromagnetic valve 28 that opens and closes the feed path 23. As a result, when temperature control is not required for the control object 46 connected to that circuit module 21, the electromagnetic valve 28 can be closed to stop the flow of the circulating fluid.

The low-temperature path 31 is a path for cooling the circulating fluid by the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. The inlet side of the low-temperature path 31 is connected to the return path 24 side of the circuit module 21, and the outlet side is connected to the feed path 23 side of the circuit module 21, so as to form a bypass path for the circulating fluid in the basic circulation path 22.

In other words, the circulating fluid circulating through the basic circulation path 22 of the circuit module 21 can flow into the low-temperature path 31 at the branching point which serves as the inlet of the low-temperature path 31, and can also flow to the feed path 23 side without flowing into the low-temperature path 31.

A mixing valve 30 is provided at the confluence of the outlet of the low-temperature path 31 and the basic circulation path 22. The mixing valve 30 is a valve that mixes the circulating fluid that has passed through the low-temperature path 31 with the circulating fluid that is supplied to the control target 46 via the feed path 23 of the circuit module 21. In other words, the low-temperature path 31 can be opened and closed freely and the flow rate can be adjusted freely by the mixing valve 30.

By adjusting the mixing valve 30, the circulating liquid returning from the control object 46 can be mixed with the circulating liquid cooled by evaporation of the refrigerant in the evaporator 15 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 to operate at a suitable temperature.

In addition, by adjusting the mixing valve 30, it is also possible to perform an operation in which the circulating fluid cooled by the evaporator 15 is not supplied to the control object 46. In other words, a temperature adjustment operation can be performed in which only the circulating fluid returning from the control object 46, or only the circulating fluid heated by the gas cooler 12, is sent to the feed path 23, heated by the heater 26, and supplied to the control object 46 for circulation.

In addition, the low-temperature path 31 is provided with a low-temperature tank 32 for storing the circulating liquid, a low-temperature pump 33 for sending the circulating liquid, and a low-temperature circulation path 34 for returning the circulating liquid to the inlet side of the low-temperature path 31 without sending it to the control object 46.

Specifically, for example, a low-temperature tank 32 is provided on the inlet side of the low-temperature path 31, a low-temperature pump 33 is provided downstream of the low-temperature tank 32, and an evaporator 15 is provided downstream of the low-temperature pump 33. The low-temperature circulation path 34 may be provided to connect a system branch pipe 36 provided downstream of the evaporator 15 of the low-temperature path 31 to the low-temperature tank 32 provided on the inlet side of the low-temperature path 31.

The low-temperature tank 32 is provided with a low-temperature sensor 37 that measures the temperature of the circulating fluid in the low-temperature tank 32. The low-temperature pump 33 and the low-temperature sensor 37 are connected to a control device 43. The control device 43 may use the temperature information of the circulating fluid measured by the low-temperature sensor 37 for calculations to control the operation of the circulating pump 25 and the low-temperature pump 33, and the adjustment of the opening of the mixing valve 30, etc.

As described above, the low-temperature path 31 is provided with the low-temperature tank 32, the low-temperature pump 33 that sends the circulating liquid, and the low-temperature circulation path 34 that returns the circulating liquid from the outlet side to the inlet side of the low-temperature path 31. Therefore, even when the circulating liquid of the low-temperature path 31 is not being used as the circulating liquid supplied to the controlled object 46, the circulating liquid of the low-temperature path 31 can be circulated and cooled by the refrigerant flowing through the evaporator 15.

The circulating fluid cooled by the refrigerant is stored in the low-temperature tank 32, and the stored low-temperature circulating fluid can be supplied as needed to the circulating fluid circuit 20. For example, when the set temperature of the control target 46 is changed due to a change in the processing step or the like, and the temperature of the circulating fluid is significantly lowered, the low-temperature circulating fluid stored in the low-temperature tank 32 can be supplied to the circulating fluid circuit 20.

This allows the temperature of the circulating fluid circulating through the circulating fluid circuit 20 to be rapidly lowered to a predetermined temperature in a short period of time. This significantly shortens the time required to change the set temperature, reducing the time lost due to temperature changes before starting a processing process, measurement process, etc.

As described above, the low-temperature path 31 is provided with a low-temperature tank 32, a low-temperature pump 33, and a low-temperature circulation path 34. Therefore, even if the circulating liquid in the low-temperature path 31 is not supplied to the control object 46, the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 can be operated to heat the circulating liquid in the high-temperature path 38 with the refrigerant in the gas cooler 12.

The high-temperature path 38 is a path for heating the circulating fluid by the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. The inlet side of the high-temperature path 38 is connected to the return path 24 side of the circuit module 21, and the outlet side is connected to the feed path 23 side of the circuit module 21, so as to form a bypass path for the circulating fluid in the basic circulation path 22.

Specifically, a three-way valve 29 is provided in the basic circulation path 22 of the circulating fluid circuit 20 upstream of the branch point to the low-temperature path 31. The three-way valve 29 is a valve that switches whether or not the circulating fluid returning from the control target 46 is sent to the high-temperature path 38. In other words, the high-temperature path 38 can be freely opened and closed by the three-way valve 29.

More specifically, the inlet of the high-temperature path 38 is connected to the three-way valve 29. The outlet of the high-temperature path 38 is connected downstream of the three-way valve 29 of the basic circulation path 22 and upstream of the branch point to the low-temperature path 31.

With this configuration, by switching the three-way valve 29, it is possible to switch between an operation in which the circulating liquid heated in the gas cooler 12 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is supplied to the control object 46 and an operation in which the circulating liquid is not supplied.

The high-temperature path 38 is provided with a high-temperature tank 39 that stores the circulating fluid heated to a high temperature, and a high-temperature sensor 42 that measures the temperature of the circulating fluid in the high-temperature tank 39. Inside the high-temperature tank 39, the gas cooler 12 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is provided so that the circulating fluid can be heated by the refrigerant.

The high-temperature tank 39 has a circulating fluid inlet formed at the bottom and a circulating fluid outlet formed at the top. This allows the high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 to be efficiently supplied to the control object 46.

That is, the low-temperature circulating fluid returning from the controlled object 46 flows into the high-temperature path 38 via the three-way valve 29, and flows into the high-temperature tank 39 from an inlet formed at the bottom of the high-temperature tank 39. The high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 is then sent to the basic circulation path 22 from an outlet formed at the top of the high-temperature tank 39, and is supplied to the controlled object 46.

In this way, the cooling and heating device 1 is equipped with a high-temperature tank 39, and can send high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 to the basic circulation path 22. This enables highly efficient temperature changes when, for example, the set temperature of the control object 46 is changed due to a change in the processing process or the like, and the temperature of the circulating fluid is significantly increased.

That is, the high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 is supplied to the circulating fluid circuit 20, and the temperature of the circulating fluid circulating through the circulating fluid circuit 20 can be rapidly raised to a predetermined temperature in a short period of time. Therefore, the cooling and heating device 1 can significantly reduce the time required to change the set temperature, and reduce the time loss associated with changing the temperature before starting a processing process, measurement process, etc.

The control device 43 may use temperature information of the circulating fluid in the high-temperature tank 39 measured by the high-temperature sensor 42 in the calculation for controlling the opening and closing of the three-way valve 29. This makes it possible to control the flow of the high-temperature path 38 according to the amount of high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39. Therefore, when there is a shortage of high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39, it is possible to prevent low-temperature circulating fluid from being sent to the basic circulation path 22, which would cause a time loss in changing the temperature.

In addition, the low-temperature path 31 and the high-temperature path 38 are provided with system integration flow pipes 35, 40 and system branch pipes 36, 41 that connect the multiple circuit modules 21. Specifically, the low-temperature path 31 is provided with a system integration flow pipe 35 on the inlet side and a system branch pipe 36 on the outlet side. The high-temperature path 38 is provided with a system integration flow pipe 40 on the inlet side and a system branch pipe 41 on the outlet side.

This allows multiple circuit modules 21, for example two to eight or more circuit modules 21, to be connected to the low temperature path 31 and the high temperature path 38 via the system integration flow pipes 35, 40 and the system branch pipes 36, 41.

Each of the multiple circuit modules 21 has a circulation pump 25 and a heater 26, and can circulate the circulating fluid to a different control object 46. This allows a single refrigeration cycle circuit 10 to be used to efficiently cool and heat multiple control objects 46, such as processing locations and measurement locations, and adjust each control object 46 to a suitable temperature.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the cooling and heating device 1. As shown in Figure 2, the cooling and heating device 1 is equipped with a control device 43 that controls each component device. The control device 43 is a control means equipped with a microprocessor, and executes a predetermined calculation to control the temperature of the controlled object 46 (see Figure 1).

Connected to the input of the control device 43 are sensors such as a refrigerant temperature sensor 18 that detects the temperature of the refrigerant, a pressure sensor 19 that detects the pressure of the refrigerant, a temperature sensor 27 that detects the temperature of the circulating fluid supplied to the controlled object 46, a low temperature sensor 37 that detects the temperature of the circulating fluid in the low temperature path 31, a high temperature sensor 42 that detects the temperature of the circulating fluid in the high temperature path 38, and a temperature sensor 47 that detects the temperature of the controlled object 46.

The output of the control device 43 is connected to the compressor 11, expansion valve 14 and blower fan 16 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10, as well as the circulation pump 25, heater 26, solenoid valve 28, three-way valve 29, mixing valve 30 and low-temperature pump 33 of the circulating liquid circuit 20.

The control device 43 is also provided with an input device 44 for inputting the set temperature of the controlled object 46 and other operating information, and a display device 45 for displaying temperature information of each part and other control information.
The control device 43 may also be connected to other sensors, information input devices, display devices, controlled devices, recording devices, etc., all of which are not shown.

The control device 43 performs predetermined calculations based on input from the refrigerant temperature sensor 18, pressure sensor 19, temperature sensor 27, low temperature sensor 37, high temperature sensor 42, temperature sensor 47 and input device 44, etc., and controls the compressor 11, expansion valve 14, blower fan 16, circulation pump 25, heater 26, solenoid valve 28, three-way valve 29, mixing valve 30 and low temperature pump 33, etc.

Next, a temperature adjustment method using the cooling/heating device 1 will be described in detail with reference to Figs.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the flow path of the circulating fluid, and shows an example in which the circulating fluid cooled or heated in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is not used. In Fig. 3, the path through which the circulating fluid flows is shown by a thick line, and the flow direction is shown by an arrow.

3, by closing the high temperature path 38 with the three-way valve 29 and closing the low temperature path 31 with the mixing valve 30, it is also possible not to supply the circulating fluid cooled by the evaporator 15 and the circulating fluid heated by the gas cooler 12 to the control object 46. That is, the circulating fluid circulates through the basic circulation path 22 without passing through the low temperature path 31 and the high temperature path 38. In this way, it is also possible to perform a temperature adjustment operation in which the circulating fluid flowing through the low temperature path 31 or the high temperature path 38 is not sent to the sending path 23, but only the circulating fluid returning from the control object 46 is sent directly to the sending path 23, heated by the heater 26, and sent to the control object 46 for circulation.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the flow path of the circulating fluid when performing temperature adjustment operation using the circulating fluid cooled in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. In Figure 4, the path through which the circulating fluid flows is shown by a thick line, and the flow direction is shown by an arrow. As shown in Figure 4, when cooling of the controlled object 46 is required, the control device 43 (see Figure 2) controls the mixing valve 30 to open the low-temperature path 31 of the circulating fluid circuit 20 so that the circulating fluid flows through the low-temperature path 31.

Then, a portion of the circulating fluid returning from the controlled object 46 flows through the low-temperature path 31 and is cooled using the latent heat of the refrigerant evaporating in the evaporator 15 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. The circulating fluid cooled in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 then merges with the circulating fluid in the basic circulation path 22 that did not flow through the low-temperature path 31, is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 26, and is supplied to the controlled object 46 at a suitable temperature so that the controlled object 46 reaches the set temperature.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing another example of using circulating fluid cooled in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. In Figure 5, the path through which the circulating fluid flows is shown by a thick line, and the flow direction is shown by an arrow. As shown in Figure 5, the mixing valve 30 may be controlled to open the low-temperature path 31 100%. In other words, the circulating fluid returning from the control object 46 does not pass directly through the mixing valve 30, but all of it passes through the low-temperature path 31. Then, only the circulating fluid that has been cooled to a refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 passes through the mixing valve 30 and is sent to the feed path 23.

By using such a flow path, a large amount of circulating fluid that has been cooled to a low temperature in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 and stored in the low-temperature tank 32 can be sent to the circulating fluid circuit 20, and the temperature of the circulating fluid supplied to the control target 46 can be rapidly reduced. This makes it possible to reduce time lost in processes such as changing the set temperature, and improve the productivity of semiconductor devices and the like.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing the flow path of the circulating fluid when performing temperature adjustment operation using the circulating fluid heated in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. In Figure 5, the path through which the circulating fluid flows is shown by a thick line, and the flow direction is shown by an arrow.

With reference to Figure 6, when the temperature of the circulating fluid returning from the control object 46 is low and it is necessary to significantly increase the temperature of the circulating fluid, the three-way valve 29 is controlled by the control device 43 (see Figure 2) to open the high temperature path 38 of the circulating fluid circuit 20. As a result, the circulating fluid returning from the control object 46 flows through the high temperature path 38. Then, the circulating fluid in the high temperature tank 39, which has become hot by utilizing the heat released by the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler 12 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10, is sent to the basic circulation path 22.

The circulating liquid heated in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 is then sent to the feed path 23 via the mixing valve 30, heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 26, and supplied to the controlled object 46 at an appropriate temperature so that the controlled object 46 reaches the accurate set temperature.

In this way, the circulating fluid is heated by utilizing the heat dissipated by the gas cooler 12 of the refrigeration cycle circuit 10 and stored in the high-temperature tank 39, and the high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 is supplied to the basic circulation path 22, so that the circulating fluid flowing through the basic circulation path 22 can be changed to a high temperature in a short time. Therefore, the energy consumed by the heater 26 of the circulating fluid circuit 20 can be kept to a minimum, and temperature adjustment can be performed with high efficiency.

When the control device 43 opens the three-way valve 29, the high-temperature circulating fluid stored in the high-temperature tank 39 is sent to the basic circulation path 22. Then, after the temperature of the circulating fluid circulating through the basic circulation path 22 has risen to a predetermined temperature in a short period of time, the control device 43 may close the three-way valve 29 and perform normal temperature control operation in which the circulating fluid does not flow through the high-temperature path 38, as shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5.

That is, as shown in Fig. 3, an operation may be performed in which the circulating fluid circulating through the basic circulation path 22 is heated only by the heater 26 to adjust the temperature without using the refrigeration cycle circuit 10. Also, as shown in Fig. 4, an operation may be performed in which the circulating fluid circulating through the basic circulation path 22 is mixed with low-temperature circulating fluid flowing through the low-temperature path 31 to adjust the temperature. Also, as shown in Fig. 5, a temperature adjustment operation may be performed in which the low-temperature path 31 is 100% opened by the mixing valve 30 and all of the circulating fluid circulating through the basic circulation path 22 is sent to the sending path 23 via the low-temperature path 31.

In other words, as shown in Figure 6, after a temperature change with a large temperature difference is made due to a change in the processing process, etc., temperature adjustment can be performed by utilizing a small cooling capacity and heating capacity corresponding to the amount of heat dissipation and absorption in the control object 46, as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

In this way, the cooling and heating device 1 can circulate the circulating fluid through a suitable path depending on the condition of the controlled object 46, efficiently changing the set temperature in a short period of time, and can adjust the temperature of the controlled object 46 efficiently with little energy consumption.

As described above, the cooling and heating device 1 of this embodiment can perform highly efficient temperature control with little exhaust heat loss for a controlled object 46, such as a semiconductor manufacturing device, by utilizing both the cold and hot heat generated in the refrigeration cycle circuit 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

REFRIGERATION CYCLE CIRCUIT 11 COMPRESSOR 12 GAS COOLER 13 RADIATER 14 EXPANSION VALVE 15 EVAPORATOR 16 BLOOD FAN 17 REFRIGERANT PIPE 18 REFRIGERANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR 19 PRESSURE SENSOR 20 CIRCULATING LIQUID CIRCUIT 21 CIRCUIT MODULE 22 BASIC CIRCULATION PATH 23 SEND PATH 24 RETURN PATH 25 CIRCULATION PUMP 26 HEATER 27 TEMPERATURE SENSOR 28 SOLENOVAL 29 THREE-WAY VALVE 30 MIXING VALVE 31 LOW-TEMPERATURE PATH 32 LOW-TEMPERATURE TANK 33 LOW-TEMPERATURE PUMP 34 LOW-TEMPERATURE CIRCULATION PATH 35 SYSTEM INTEGRATION PIPE 36 SYSTEM BRANCH PIPE 37 LOW-TEMPERATURE SENSOR 38 HIGH-TEMPERATURE PATH 39 HIGH-TEMPERATURE TANK 40 SYSTEM INTEGRATION PIPE 41 SYSTEM BRANCH PIPE 42 HIGH-TEMPERATURE SENSOR 43 CONTROL DEVICE 44 INPUT DEVICE 45 DISPLAY DEVICE 46 CONTROL OBJECT 47 TEMPERATURE SENSOR

Claims (7)

a refrigeration cycle circuit in which a compression means, a gas cooler, a throttling means and an evaporator are connected in sequence and a refrigerant circulates;
a circulating fluid circuit in which a circulating pump and a heater are provided and through which a circulating fluid for adjusting the temperature of the controlled object circulates;
the circulating fluid circuit includes a freely openable/closable low-temperature path through which the circulating fluid flows through the evaporator so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant, and a freely openable/closable high-temperature path through which the circulating fluid flows through the gas cooler so as to be able to exchange heat with the refrigerant,
The cooling and heating device is characterized in that a high-temperature tank for storing the circulating fluid heated to the refrigerant in the gas cooler is provided in the high-temperature path. The cooling and heating device described in claim 1, characterized in that the refrigerant is carbon dioxide and the circulating liquid is heated at supercritical pressure in the gas cooler. The cooling and heating device according to claim 1, characterized in that the refrigeration cycle circuit is provided with a second gas cooler downstream of the gas cooler, which releases heat of the refrigerant to the outside. the gas cooler is provided inside the high-temperature tank so that the refrigerant flows from top to bottom;
4. The cooling and heating device according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant flowing through the gas cooler heats the circulating liquid in the high-temperature tank. The cooling and heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the low-temperature path is provided with a low-temperature tank for storing the circulating liquid, a low-temperature pump for sending the circulating liquid, and a low-temperature circulation path for returning the circulating liquid to the inlet side of the low-temperature path without sending it to the controlled object. The cooling and heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the circulating fluid circuit is provided with a three-way valve that switches whether or not the circulating fluid returning from the controlled object is sent to the high-temperature path, and a mixing valve that is provided downstream of the three-way valve and mixes the circulating fluid that has passed through the low-temperature path with the circulating fluid that is supplied to the controlled object. There are a plurality of control targets,
the circulating fluid circuit is provided with a plurality of circuit modules connected to the low-temperature path and the high-temperature path via branch pipes;
4. The cooling and heating device according to claim 1, wherein each of the circuit modules has the circulation pump and the heater, and sends the circulating fluid to a different controlled object.

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