years
Customer Profile
- Located in Cupertino, California
- Global leader in data storage solutions
- Created first hard drive for the PC
Situation
Performance & Durability of HEPA filters
A California company that is a global leader in data storage solutions needed to meet specific contractual obligations for a new microelectronics manufacturing facility to be operational by the end of 2015. This directive drove the company to find durable filters for the new facility that would consistently perform well in efficiency testing. These filters also needed to effectively eliminate boron off gassing, which damages microelectronic circuit boards, leading to intermittent and hard failures.
Because there were extreme time constraints for filter installation in this new facility, this company required that the total filter installation process sustain a damage rate of less than 8 to 10%. A damage rate higher than 10% would mean that the contractually mandated deadline for the facility to be operational by the end of 2015 would not be met.
In other facilities, this company had been using a filter that sustained a damage rate ranging from 8 to 10%. Due to this disappointing damage rate, additional filters always had to be ordered to compensate.
Challenges 1 – Weak durability of existing HEPA filters
Challenges 2 – High damage rate of filters causing higher lead time for filter installation
Challenges 3 – The effectiveness of filter in eliminating boron offgassing
AAF International demonstrated the durability of the MEGAcel II filter, showing that this filter has a superior resistance to damage. The ePTFE media in this filter met the airflow and resistance values required, demonstrating high efficiency and low energy consumption. This ePTFE media in the MEGAcel II filter performs at the highest level in critical areas with a near zero off gassing of chemical components.
2.900 MEGAcel II filters were shipped to California and installed in the company’s new microelectronics manufacturing facility. With a near perfect 100% first pass rate, only 3 filters did not pass in-place leak testing. This is a remarkable damage rate, compared to the norm of 8 to 10% damage occurrence with fragile microglass media filters. In this case, that would have meant that 232 – 290 filters would have needed to be replaced. This would have created a significant setback to the operational deadline.
The durability of the MEGAcel II ePTFE media resulted in the installation of these filters being completed on time in the new facility, as well as considerable maintenance cost savings. With this installation of MEGAcel II filters, this data storage solutions company received a substantial return on investment, saving both time and money.
Recommended Product & Solution
Corrosion Control
Corrosion of electronic equipment can occur when corrosive gases, such as hydrogen sulphide, attack sensitive computer controls and other critical electronics. These gases attack edge connectors, pin connectors, IC plug-in sockets, wire-wrap connections, and other microelectronic components.
MEGAcel® II
Energy efficient mini-pleat filter with a sturdy aluminum frame, boron-free media pack and outgassing-free separator. Final filtration for sensitive microelectronic cleanrooms and laminar airflow systems.
DISCOVER
Microelectronics
For high-yield, low-reject semiconductor manufacturing, fine particulate and Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) need to be carefully controlled with AAF International’s filtration solutions.