CHARLOTTE, NC, May 2, 2005 -- Membrana-Charlotte announced that Liqui-Cel membrane contactors have been chosen to deaerate ultrapure water at a major semiconductor fabricator in China. The contactors will operate in combo mode where a small nitrogen sweep and vacuum will be used. They'll be used to remove dissolved oxygen to less than 1 part per billion (ppb).
A Liqui-Cel® contactor system will be installed in two lines at this plant. The first line will degas 200 m3/hr (880 gpm) and the second line will degas 140 m3/hr (616 gpm). The contactors will ship out this month and the system is scheduled to begin degassing water in the third quarter of 2005. They'll be used to deaerate the water used to manufacture DRAM and other memory storage devices.
Liqui-Cel membrane contactors are used around the world for adding or removing oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2) to or from different liquids in the semiconductor, power, pharmaceutical, photographic, food and beverage, ink jet and many other industries and market segments. For example, it's known that O2 negatively impacts many processes since it's corrosive and can oxidize materials. In the power and industrial areas, piping and equipment are susceptible to corrosion. Specific to the semiconductor market, high levels of O2 can cause lower wafer yields. And CO2 negatively impacts performance of EDI and ion exchange. The contactors offer a modular solution for O2/CO2 removal before these processes without chemicals.
They're also used to add gasses to liquids to enhance megasonic cleaning. The beverage industry looks to membrane contactors for carbonation, nitrogenation and O2 removal. These reflect only a few examples of the variety of applications where the membrane contactors are used. New applications are constantly being developed.
The Membrana Industrial Membrane Group (www.membrana.com/industrial/center.htm) also manufactures a variety of membranes used for filtration in various industries and applications. There are 10 strategically located manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia and global markets are served through sales offices in North and South America, Europe, Japan, Australia, South East Asia and China. Both Membrana and Liqui-Cel are units of Polypore. For additional information, see www.liqui-cel.com or www.polypore.net
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