Multi-generation enhanced power quality design for semiconductor manufacturing facilities

The unique power quality constraints of chip industry manufacturing facilities, makes multi-generation an attractive power source for these plants. Multi-generation power is defined as internal combustion or gas turbine electric power generation combined with heat exchanger technology to reclaim waste heat from combustion for heating and cooling. This paper presents a new concept in multi-generation that combines the versatility, expandability and power quality requirements of the microchip fabrication facility (Fab) with the cost saving plus environmental benefits of multi-generation. Fab high power quality, versatility and expandability is commonly achieved with N+1 design. N+1 is an expression for the use of N number of electrical devices needed by a power system plus one device for redundancy (i.e. transformer, generator, etc.). This paper looks at the multi-generation and N+1 design concept from a complete system point of view.