The Challenge of Creating High-Efficiency
Factories with the Smallest Environment
Burde |
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To deliver high-quality semiconductor devices
to our customers in a timely manner, Sony
Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation operates
continuously at full production 24 hours a day,
360 days a year. However, this uses a large
amount of energy and has a large influence on
the environment, including global warming.
Therefore, Sony Semiconductor Kyushu
Corporation, in the process of all its business
activities, creates energy saving targets and
plans based on Sony’s GEMS (Global
Environmental Management System), which
controls environmental activities for the whole
Sony Group and promotes energy saving in its
daily activities. At the same time, in the cooling
and heating system, which accounts for
more than 20% of all of Sony Semiconductor
Kyushu Corporation’s energy use and which
once put in operation is extremely hard to
improve, we took strategic efforts such as creating
a roadmap for improvements in advance
and introducing new equipment in a timely
manner in conjunction with the timing of facility
expansion. In the following, we describe the
deployment of large-scale energy saving measures
implemented by Sony Semiconductor
Kyushu Corporation. |
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The Sequence of the Development and
Introduction of Energy Saving Equipment
Whose Core is a High-Efficiency Cooling
and Heating System |
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At Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation,
in conjunction with the timing of new construction
or expansion at a factory, we aggressively
adopt energy-saving technologies that
can be introduced at that time and, while taking
advantage of those results, verify them
through actual operation. Then, at the same
time as planning horizontal deployment of those
energy-saving results to all business activities,
we incorporate those improved aspects into our
planning for the next period. This allows us to
continuously improve our overall level.
In 2003, at the Kagoshima Technology Center,
we deployed a large-scale energy-saving project
and demonstrated highly significant improvement
results in existing facilities. Since then
we have been thoroughgoing about incorporating
those results in new factory construction.
We also make use of comprehensive energy-saving
technologies such as these as shared
assets of the whole Sony Group at all our locations
other than semiconductor sites. (See figure
1.) |
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Overview of Sony’s High-Efficiency Cooling
and Heating Systems |
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As we mentioned before, cooling and heating
systems fulfill important functions that form
the core of Sony’s energy saving efforts. (See
figure 2.) Here, there are two important points.
(1) We always adopt leading-edge high-efficiency
equipment and customize it to have
specifications optimal for Sony Semiconductor
Kyushu Corporation.
(2) We newly develop the control system, which
is the heart of these systems. This allows
us to optimize the system for factors such
as load variation through the year so that it
produces optimal overall performance.
Figure 2 Overview of the High-Efficiency
Cooling and Heating System
Furthermore, in the design of the plumbing that
handles supply to the actual site, we incorporate
measures to reduce fluid resistance as much
as possible to reduce the transport power used.
(See figure 3.)
At the Kumamoto Technology Center's building
2, the result of applying the combination
of these measures to the workplace has been
not only an energy efficiency that is 2.4 times
higher than that of a typical cooling and heating
system but also the achievement of a level
that makes possible a reduction in CO2 emissions
of over 80% compared to fuel-burning
heating systems. (See figure 4.)
Figure 3 Examples of
Thoroughgoing
Resistance
Reduction
It is important to note that however high the
performance of the equipment introduced, the
original goals will not be met if that high performance
is not maintained without loss of
inherent performance due to wear or degradation.
To deal with this issue, we developed and
introduced a network web remote monitoring
system, and have implemented monitoring and
management of multiple numeric values in real
time. This system for “making energy visible”
makes it possible to share the necessary information
between the persons concerned and is
used to implement fault forecasting, trend management,
and performance verification.
The Kumamoto Technology Center was awarded
the fourth Nikkei Manufacturing Grand Prize
in 2007 for its development introduction of these
energy-saving facilities. (See photograph 1.)
Photograph 1 Awarding of the Nikkei Manufacturing
Grand Prize
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