Process gas abatement

Abstract

A process gas abatement apparatus and method are disclosed. The process gas abatement apparatus comprises: a burner comprising: a combustion chamber operable to receive an effluent gas stream from a manufacturing process tool to be treated within the combustion chamber at a sub-atmospheric pressure, the combustion chamber being further operable to receive a fuel, oxidant and diluent, the fuel, oxidant and diluent controlling combustion within the combustion chamber to treat the effluent gas stream to produce a treated exhaust stream, the diluent being condensable in the treated exhaust stream. By providing a diluent in the form of, for example, an inert condensable, the volume gain within the combustion chamber is reduced, which reduces the volume of the exhaust stream and reduces the volumetric load on the second pump. The volume gain reduces because the diluent shifts phase in the exhaust stream, thereby effectively removing the contribution of the diluent to the volume of the exhaust stream. This leads to considerable power saving since a lower volume of gas is output from the combustion chamber which would need to be brought up to the second pressure, for example atmospheric pressure, by means of the second pump.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a process gas abatement apparatus and method.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Apparatus for treating an effluent gas stream from a manufacturing process tool operating at a sub-atmospheric pressure used in, for example, the semiconductor or flat panel display manufacturing industry are known. During such manufacturing, residual perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and other compounds exist in the effluent gas stream pumped from the process tool. PFCs are difficult to abate or remove from the effluent gas and their release into the environment is undesirable because they are known to have relatively high greenhouse activity.[0003]One way of performing effluent gas abatement is to pump the effluent gas from the process tool to a higher sub-atmospheric pressure before being fed to a radiant burner. The radiant burner uses combustion to remove the PFCs and other compounds from the process gas stream. Typically, the effluent gas str...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent is about a new system for reducing the volume of exhaust gas from a combustion chamber, which can save power and improve efficiency. The system uses a diluent, which helps to control the flame speed and temperature in the chamber. This diluent can be a vapor or a liquid, and it can be added to the fuel and oxidant before being introduced into the chamber. The diluent helps to reduce the volume of the exhaust gas and the load on the second pump, which can save a significant amount of power.

Problems solved by technology

PFCs are difficult to abate or remove from the effluent gas and their release into the environment is undesirable because they are known to have relatively high greenhouse activity.

This leads to considerable power saving since a lower volume of gas is output from the combustion chamber which would need to be brought up to the second pressure, for example atmospheric pressure, by means of the second pump.

Images