Meeting major clean room fire risks and challenges to support fab production and functionality.

Globally, semiconductors have experienced significant growth due in part to the rising use of consumer electronic devices. Additionally, semiconductors look to increase their robust growth due to the advancement of cloud, AI, 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), and autonomous driving technologies. By 2029, the semiconductor market is projected to grow to over $1.3 trillion.

 

For major semiconductor companies, setup costs can be extremely high. A semiconductor fabrication plant, or fab’s, construction cost is estimated between $2-4 billion, which means advanced fire protection systems are a vital component in preventing losses from fire events. The central part of a fab, known as a “clean room,” forms the basis of any semiconductor production process, and the operating conditions required to work with silicon wafers make it difficult for standard fire detection to operate reliably. The extremely high air changes in the environment means a very sensitive detection system with active multi-hole sampling can give the earliest warning of fire.

 

Xtralis’ VESDA-E responds to this challenge by detecting smoke as early as possible. It can respond early to fire threats, minimize thermal and non-thermal damage to critical equipment, and prevent the high cost of clean room contamination and production loss. The VESDA-E aspirating smoke detectors can detect fires very early at the smoldering stage, making it the optimal choice for clean rooms as it can combat detection difficulties caused by high airflow movements.

 

VESDA has consistently been proven to be the choice in providing reliable and early warning smoke detection in hi-tech manufacturing areas highly sensitive to contamination.