Showa Denko Starts Service to Measure Performance of Noxious-GHG Removal Equipment
Showa Denko (SDK) (TOKYO: 4004) will soon start a service to measure and analyze performance of noxious-GHG removal equipment, which is used in manufacturing processes for electronic parts including semiconductor chips and LCD panels, as an option for the maintenance work of SDK’s noxious-GHG removal equipment.
In processes to manufacture semiconductor chips or LCD panels, various GHGs, such as PFCs*1, are used by manufacturers. These manufacturers are required by the government to treat noxious GHGs emitted from their production lines to make those GHGs’ densities lower than certain levels, calculate the emitted amount of GHGs after treatment, and report that amount to the government.
Methods to calculate the amount of GHG emissions are listed in the 2006 IPCC*2 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories*3. However, since it has been recognized necessary by IPCC to revise the existing 2006 Guidelines in view of the scientific and technical advancements after establishment of the Guidelines, a set of improved guidelines with more detailed and additional contents are expected to be suggested and discussed at the 49th IPCC to be held in Kyoto in May 2019, and those improved guidelines will be resolved and approved in the near future.
The improved version of Guidelines are expected to determine standards for GHG removal efficiency classified by processed products and GHG removal methods. On the other hand, measurement of GHG emissions and analysis of measured values require a lot of man-hour and technical know-how. Aiming to take advantage of our technical know-how for handling of many kinds of specialty gases which has been accumulated through our business operation to manufacture and sell noxious-GHG removal equipment over many years, SDK decided this time to launch in May 2019 a new service to measure densities of GHGs at intake and vent of noxious-GHG remover, analyze results and rate actual efficiency of the GHG removal equipment*4, as an option for maintenance service of GHG removers.
In its medium term business plan “The TOP 2021” launched in January 2019, SDK holds up “Maximization of CUSTOMER Experience” as a part of its business strategy. As cited above, SDK will not only produce and sell high-purity gases for electronics and noxious-GHG removal equipment, but also provide customers of these products with the new service to measure and evaluate performance of GHG removal equipment as an option. Thus SDK will continue striving to maximize customer experience by offering wide-ranging solutions in its business to produce and sell high-purity gases for electronics.
*1: PFC is an abbreviation of perfluoro chemicals. PFCs are substitutes for chlorofluorocarbon, and used in processes to produce semiconductor chips and LCDs as gases for etching and cleaning. CF4, C2F6, C3F8, C4F8, CHF3, SF6 and NF3 are typical PFCs.
*2: IPCC is an abbreviation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC was established in 1988 by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). IPCC deliberates and establishes guidelines which include scientific analysis of climate change conducted by experts recommended by national governments, social influence of climate change and measures to mitigate climate change. As an organization which gives scientific background to countermeasures against climate change, IPCC has big influence on global society.
*3: IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories define a calculation standard to be used by signing parties of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change when they calculate GHG inventories, which include data on annual GHG emissions and absorptions of the relevant signing country or region.
*4: In this new service, SDK detects and measures densities of GHGs at the intake and vent of target GHG removal equipment by utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR), and evaluate efficiency of the noxious-GHG removal equipment. FT-IR can also identify and measure densities of post-GHG-decomposition gases including HF. In addition, by utilizing gas chromatograph (GC) when necessary, SDK can also analyze gases (including F2) which FT-IR cannot analyze.
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