Wastewater Treatment in the Semiconductor Industry – from Waste Management to Resource Recovery
In order to etch, deposit or clean semiconductor layers, semiconductor manufacturers employ diverse chemicals during production. As a specialist in Point-of-Use abatement technology, DAS Environmental Expert not only offers extensive knowhow in the abatement of process waste gases, but also provides the expertise for the entire wastewater treatment.
Combining Waste Gas and Wastewater Treatment increases Eco-Sustainability of Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes
DAS Environmental Expert offers a comprehensive portfolio tailored for the requirements of the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry manufactures memory chips that are produced in large quantity on silicon wafers. Other products include integrated circuits for special applications such as light emitting diodes (LED/OLED), and high-performance chips produced on wafers from compound semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, indium phosphide and silicon carbide. There is a diverse range of processes, as well as process waste gases and chemicals that are employed during production, with some classified as greenhouse gases with an extremely negative climate impact. Others are toxic and/or highly flammable. Therefore these substances, under no circumstance, should be released into the environment. Our systems have, for many years, ensured that chip manufacturing meets the highest standards for protecting human life and the environment. We are extremely familiar with the highest requirements for purity, reliability and safety. That’s because ever since we began, the semiconductor industry has been one of our most important customers.
From Ultrapure Water to Wastewater – DAS Environmental Expert Offers Long-Standing Experience in the Semiconductor Industry
To ensure safe operations in semiconductor manufacturing facilities, DAS Environmental Expert has developed systems that treat waste gases directly at their point of origin (Point-of-Use). To this end, we have designed a combined burner and scrubber system that requires little space and removes harmful substances from waste gases. Depending on the process management, various reactions take place in the combustion stage (oxidation, reduction or pyrolysis). In a subsequent washing column, soluble particles and components are bound in a scrubbing liquid.
The result is a particle-free, harmless gas mixture that can be released via exhausts. We take care of scrubbing liquids, and if desired, treatment of wastewaters from wet-processes such as etching and planarization. This includes production lines that process wafers made from semiconductor compounds such as gallium arsenide.
With customer-specific processes particularly composed for each manufacturing site, we remove the harmful substances from wastewaters to below their legally required limits. To this end, we offer a broad spectrum of reliable processes for the removal of fluoride, and the degradation of ammonium, and organic substances in water. After oxidation of trivalent arsenide into pentavalent arsenate, the arsenic can be filtered or removed via precipitation. Granulated iron hydroxide can also be used to remove arsenic. Alternatively, arsenic and heavy metals can be separated using doped activated carbon. If the wastewater contains other metallic components, additional individualized and targeted treatment methods, such as precipitation using organosulfides can be employed.
Reliable Service Through DAS-Branches Worldwide
We are as international as our customers: DAS Environmental Expert operates worldwide and has customers throughout the semiconductor industry. We provide around-the-clock service, whether on call 24/7 or as a permanently installed on-site team.
For DAS Environmental Expert, environmental protection does not end with reliable waste abatement. We are currently working on procedures that allow for recovering rare earth elements from wastewaters. In this way, we continue to set new technology standards that will gain significant importance in the future.