Air Water Mechatronics completed a new building for the gas purifying system for semiconductor manufacturing processes in its Hiratsuka Plant which had long been under construction. The operation started on April 18. With the expanded system the output capacity will increase to 1.6 times more than now. The investment has amounted to about 400 million yen.
The new building named “Building R” will have a floor area of 820m2 with a single-story steel frame having a structure of three stories in part.
For these years the enlarging trend has been prevalent in the production facilities of the semiconductor plants mainly in the East Asian area like China and Taiwan. The trend is now followed by the field of gas purifying systems seeking eagerly a larger-sized processing capacity.
To meet such need, the “Building R” has a structural feature of high-ceiling design for efficiency and time-saving effect of the large-sized gas purification system.
In the new building from now on, with view to BCP, the company is planning to relocate the assembling system of the alloy and cell of palladium-alloy hydrogen permeation device from the present location up to the high floor of the building.
As the Sagami River is listed on the hazard map of Hiratsuka City due to the probability of water immersion in case of flood of the Sagami River running near the plant, the company aimed to reinforce BCP by relocation of the production facilities up to the high floor.
　In the completion ceremony held on April 18, president Arakawa said in his greeting speech, “For these years large-sized plants of semiconductor have been constructed one after another over the world, and therefore the need for large-sized purifiers to supply nitrogen gas to whole plants is booming now. The completion of Building R has brought our realization of shortening the construction period, insourcing and the cost saving of large-sized system. At nearly the same time as the completion of this Building R, newly born Air Water Mechatronics started operation. We wish to challenge the establishment of a company capable to survive a world-wide competition, taking advantage of the enriched technologies and human resources in our hands now.”
In April of this year, Air Water integrated into Air Water Mechatronics the business units of Air Water’s electronics-related equipment field, Air Water BELLPEARL equipment and Air Water plant engineering gas application. In Hiratsuka Plant there is an attached technology center for the demonstration and sample testing of gas application like atmospheric plasma system and dry ice snow precision cleaning device.
In the future Air Water will utilize the building as a strategic center which enables to propose integrated solutions from the development to the production and sales of various equipment and devices related to the transferred production of semiconductor in order to catch hold steadily of the demand in the expanding semiconductor market.