The massive new semiconductor manufacturing plant in upstate New York that’s being built by GlobalFoundries is expected to be the largest and most advanced computer chip factory in the world when it’s completed in late 2012. Water systems are essential since a chip comes into contact with ultrapure water more than 35 times during the production process. Any disruption of service or “out-of-spec” water can compromise the chips and even result in loss of product.
One semiconductor chip manufacturing plant uses anywhere between 2 to 4 million gallons of ultrapure water per day, about the same amount of water used by a city of maybe 40,000 to 50,000 people.
For the GlobalFoundries plant the series of water treatment technologies includes pumps, storage tanks, ultraviolet sterilizers, ozone generators, ion exchange, an ultra filtration system and a gas transfer membrane system. Ozone helps remove dissolved organic materials from water.