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To: DiViT who wrote (88593)9/21/1999 5:49:00 PM
From: Process Boy  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 186894
 
diVit - <What happens to a foundry on stand-by-power?>

Equipment shuts down while emergency lights turn on and life safety systems continue to run probably at a diminished but capacity but enough that people can safely exit the building.

<Are wafers lost?>

Minority percentage.

<Is production at a stop?>

Yes.

<Business as usual?>

Sort of. Power failures in wafer fabs are a fairly common occurrence, although it takes some time to bring the equipment back up.

How's Black-Scholes?

PB




To: DiViT who wrote (88593)9/21/1999 7:42:00 PM
From: Bill Jackson  Respond to of 186894
 
DiViT, From what I read it depends on the degree to which they have implemented their backup policy. The best and mot expensvie is a "hot" system which never loses a cycle and has 2 diesel/electric(they can run on either diesel or electric power) generators running at all times sharing the same axle with a large flywheel. Normall the grid power goes to the electric motor and that turns the generator and flywheel and the diesel engine all at the same time(diesel is turning at full speed with no fuel injected and compression vented). If the power fails the inertia of the flywheel supplies full power for a small time as the diesel has it's compression restored and gets
's injected. Good systems are at full power within 1-2 revolutions. This is the most expensive option and gets used in wire winding plants, hospitals etc.
There are furnaces that should never be allowed to cool, areas that should never lose vacuum, and some other areas that are the minimum amount of standby power needed so that when the grid comes back the plant can resume operation quickly. Each fab will have it's wattage requirements to keep the mandatory stuff alive on each line.
As to wafer loss? varies with the degree of backup you have. Some stages can tolerate the stoppage, and some are ruined if they spend too much time in an area due to power loss.

Bill