Engineering Project Summary (47)

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Our recent project examined how to ensure
the pumping performances of a turbomolecular pump (TMP).
Increasingly larger substrate requirements have
spurred advances in semiconductor manufacturing, explaining the increasing
importance of the pumping performance of vacuum pumps in etching, chemical
vapor deposition (CVD), and physical vapor deposition (PVD) to satisfy
ultraclean environment requirements. However, using oil-free backing pumps in
combination with the TMP to satisfy ultraclean environment requirements is
problematic. The TMP compound includes the addition of a turbodrag section
to the conventional TMP stage in the same rotation shaft in order to ensure that
the discharge pressure ranges between 7.5 and 15 Torr. Levi (1992) also
pioneered the use of hybrid pumps, which uses a variety of impellers without
increasing the number of stages on the same axis. Notably, the conventionally
adopted TMP uses momentum transfers from high-speed rotating blades to the
gas molecules for pumping gas. According to the direction of the pumped fluid
to the movement of the moving wall, the TMP is perpendicular to the movement
of the moving wall; otherwise, the molecular drag pump (MDP) is parallel. The
MDP can operate in the 7.5x-3 Torr-7.5 x-2 Torr at a full pumping speed owing
to a high compression ration in the viscous flow regime, which is infeasible for a
molecular flow regime.
(cont)
The CVD and etching equipment in the IC industry
require superior discharge pressures from the atmosphere to a high-
vacuum region. Among the many subsequent design types include
those of Becker, Siegbahn, Holwek, and Gaede. Although these
designs normally increase either the pumping speed or compression
ratio, increasing the pumping speed and compression simultaneously
(especially in higher discharge pressures) is problematic owing to the
complex transition flow phenomena. Additionally, the processing
pressure can not remain constant with a declining pumping
performance. For instance, a typical TMP typically has many stages
for optimizing the pumping speed and compression ratio, resulting in
different compression ratios, especially the lower value for light gases.
Moreover, the compression ratios are high at discharge pressures
lower than 7.5x-3 Torr. However, the pumping speed obviously
declines at higher discharge pressures. Ultimately, the pumping
performances of TMP lower its efficiency as the distance of blades
becomes comparable to the mean free path of gas molecules.
(cont)
Therefore, we developed a vacuum performance
system (based on OR according to) ISO standards with automatic
testing and human-machine interface functions.
Pumping performances were evaluated based on the flow meter
method. The flow rate was then adjusted to obtain a balanced inlet
pressure. Next, the pumping speed based on the difference of inlet
pressure and ultimate pressure was divided by the throughput.
Additionally, results of the experimental pumping speed were compared
with those of the simulations. According to our
results, the proposed vacuum performance system can evaluate the
throughput, pumping speed, ultimate pressure, and residue gas
analysis via its automatic testing and human-machine interface
functions in an inlet pressure exceeding 1.3x10-6 Torr.
Importantly, the proposed system can provide
desired characteristics such as ultimate pressure, compression ratio,
and pumping speed, ultimately eliminating the evaluated time and
providing human-machine interface functions. (NOTE : Add 2-3 more
sentences that describe more thoroughly how the proposed method
contributes to a particular field or sector)

Our project focused on concerns
over polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) entering the public water supply
Industrial development has led to the
extensive use of plastic products in daily life, with polymers like PVA,
polyethylene (PE), or polypropylene (PP), as an increasingly common
source of related industrial applications. For instance, PVA is
commonly adopted in the textile and paper-making industries.
However, similar to other polymers, the difficulty of PVA
degradation reflects the complexity of handling it during industrial
wastewater treatment. Despite the numerous chemical and biological
treatment methods developed for PVA degradation and their promising
results, such methods have certain limitations, including too long of a
reaction time and pollution caused by biological or chemical reactants.
While investigating mixed cultures acclimatized to PVA solution, Solaro
et al. indicated only 40% mineralization of PVA after 48 days of
incubation. Additionally, use of Fenton reaction to reduce PVA was
revealed that after 2 hours of reaction time, the PVA removal rate
reached only 40%. The inability to degrade PVA adequately through
wastewater treatment will result in PVA entering the public water supply
and flowing into the sea, ultimately threatening humans and the
surrounding ecology.
(cont)
Therefore, we developed an efficient and
environmentally friendly PVA-based wastewater treatment method that
does not produce other by-products or harmful waste.
PVA was degraded efficiently by photocatalysis. The removal
efficiency of PVA was then examined based on the reaction temperature,
PVA concentration, and photocatalytic quantity. Next, analysis results of
the proposed wastewater treatment method were compared with those of
previous methods. Our results indicated that the
photocatalysis of the proposed wastewater treatment method can
degrade PVA contents completely in two hours.
In addition to its photocatalysis capability to degrade
PVA efficiently, the proposed method provides a valuable reference for
research in other industrial applications such as decomposing polymers
in a sewage treatment plant. (NOTE : Add 2-3 more sentences that
describe more thoroughly how the proposed method contributes to a
particular field or sector)
Further details can be found at
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