Building the optimal CDA - clean dry air system
CDA for the semiconductor industry
In the semiconductor industry, clean dry air is so important that there is a special air quality requirement for continuous operation 24/7 for the lifetime of the plant: CDA. To meet it, your compressed air has to be extremely clean and dry. And for that, you need a clean dry air system consisting of a clean dry air compressor, a CDA dryer, and multiple clean dry air line filters ( air and process filters).
But that’s not all. To accommodate the demands of the electronics sector, compressed air, and air treatment equipment also have to be extremely reliable. And, because electronics production consumes so much energy, efficiency is crucial to keeping operating costs in check.
Once you add up all of these requirements, it is clear your choice of CDA compressed air equipment supplier is a crucial one.
Meeting the CDA standard with class zero quality
It all starts with achieving the highest air quality. But what does that mean? The quality of compressed air is categorized by an international standard called ISO 8573-1:2010. It determines how much of any given contaminant the air can contain to be clean enough for different applications.
For example, to inflate a tire, the air does not have to be very clean. In a cleanroom environment, however, the air quality has to be extremely high. Therefore, the ISO standard is divided into seven classes and three contaminants – moisture, oil, and particulates.
The lower the class, the cleaner the air. Compressed air that is extremely dry and contains no traces of oil or particles would be Class 0 dry air for all three contaminants. Most applications don’t need to reach Class 0. And if they do, then the air either has to be oil-free, water-free or particulate-free, but rarely all three.
In the electronics industry, however, the air needs to be all of the above to avoid production shutdowns and product contamination. That means, in order to meet CDA quality, it has to achieve Class 0 for all contaminants.
Our CDA solutions
To get there, you need a top-quality clean dry air system to protect your cleanroom and your semiconductor production.
That all starts with a clean dry air compressor. In this case, you require an oil-free model to help you achieve that first zero.
Atlas Copco offers a wide range of models that not only supply you with oil-free air but do so reliably and efficiently. As a result, you are not only ensuring that your semiconductor batches don’t get contaminated and your machinery doesn’t get ruined because of corrosion, you can also lower your production costs significantly.
The second contaminant you have to worry about is water. To get to zero moisture in your compressed air, you need a CDA desiccant dryer. Because the air has to be completely dry for semiconductor production, this should be a so-called desiccant or adsorption air dryer. That is the only way to reach the required pressure dew point (PDP) of below -70°C.
Here, too, we have a complete range of solutions. This includes dryers with Cerades™, the first solid compressed air desiccant. That makes them more efficient and reliable.
That leaves particulates as the final contaminant. To achieve dust-free air, you need various clean dry air filters. The first is placed between the compressor and the dryer. That protects the dryer. The others are installed downstream from the dryer and include a PTFE membrane filter. Together, they will eliminate particles down to a size of 0.01 μm.
We also meet all of your filtration needs.
Get a clean dry compressed air system from a single CDA supplier
With Atlas Copco, you get high-quality, high-efficiency equipment chosen to meet your specific needs. You also get a clean dry air system from a single source. That means that the clean dry air compressor, the CDA dryer, and the clean dry air filters all work together optimally.