ACT Enhances 3M Korea’s Cleanroom Efficiency with Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers

Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) has successfully implemented their Wrap-Around Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers (WAHX) at 3M Korea’s semiconductor plant, significantly advancing cleanroom air conditioning performance. This installation has led to notable energy savings and a reduction in carbon emissions.

Faced with challenges in maintaining consistent cooling and humidity levels, 3M Korea collaborated with ACT’s Korean HVAC Representative, HPE Engineering, to enhance their air conditioning system. The chosen solution was to install multiple WAHX systems configured for both DX and chiller-water systems.

The WAHX system, encompassing a precool coil and a reheat coil, surrounds the chilled water coil and operates passively. The precool coil lowers incoming air temperature by 4.4°C, while the reheat coil restores 4.4°C, delivering dry, neutral air to the cleanroom. 

Since the installation of the ACT WAHX HVAC energy recovery systems, the reheat coils have seen minimal use, leading to significant energy savings. The project involved nine AHUs, with total power savings per unit reaching 119.6 kW. Each system saved around 1,050,000 kWh of energy annually, reducing humidity in the manufacturing space and enhancing AHU capacities with lower chilled water requirements.

3M’s post-installation data indicates the ACT WAHX energy recovery systems returned approximately $320,000 in 2023, with anticipated savings of $440,000 for all of 2024. The total payback period is projected to be under two years.

These systems have reduced the load on heating and cooling by 35%, saved over 2.6 million kWh in one year, and reduced carbon emissions by over 1,100 metric tons. Encouraged by the results, 3M is considering additional ACT-WAHX installations in Japan, China, Taiwan, USA, and the EU.