Technology with the Environment in Mind

Novel Wastewater Reclamation Technology Meets Environmental and Business Challenges

INTRODUCTION

Intel announced plans to construct a new manufacturing facility emphasizing an ambitious schedule for construction. As with all technology-based manufacturing scenarios, time-to-market was paramount, and even small delays could affect the technology's financial success.

Seamless technology transfer from development to manufacturing is a trademark of Intel. Being proactive in identifying areas of risk and resolving roadblocks has allowed Intel to extend Moore's Law for four decades. The process of developing technology at a dedicated site, then copying it (using the Intel Copy Exactly! process) during transfer to other manufacturing sites, has allowed Intel to be a truly virtual factory, resulting in multiple factories worldwide producing identical products with standardized processes. This philosophy also applies to the design of environmental systems and promotes proliferation of high environmental performance including water conservation.

In normal product development cycles, Intel's environmental engineers are allowed up to four years to identify problems and implement solutions. To meet future regulatory requirements and Intel's global environmental standards, process environmental goals are developed well in advance of the technology. Environmental requirements vary due to differences in geography, population density, industrial infrastructure, local regulations, and global initiatives. Despite these differences, Intel proliferates environmentally consistent and compliant technology worldwide, designed to meet requirements for the most sensitive or restrictive site. This approach allows flexible business expansion at any site with assurance of environmental compliance. When this process identifies a need for higher environmental performance, a technology selection process is followed to ensure the environmental systems match the technology roadmap. A simplified process for technology selection is outlined in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Technology selection process—steps normally do not overlap
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This process does not easily accommodate unique site-specific conditions separate from the manufacturing process. Such a constraint occurred in this project when an unexpected change in the environmental requirements threatened the start-up date of the plant. In this case the construction schedule for the semiconductor plant outpaced the schedule for constructing the local municipal wastewater infrastructure. To avoid project delays, Intel developed its own solution for wastewater treatment and conservation. This coincided with the efforts of the local authorities to adopt more stringent wastewater quality standards intended to increase wastewater reclamation rates.

The new performance guidelines mandated use of effluent for unrestricted irrigation. Every drop of water discharged from the plant would ultimately be reused, either internally (by the plant) or externally. This means all water not evaporated and not used by building occupants could potentially be reused. Table 1 outlines these wastewater quality standards.

Table 1: Effluent quality requirements
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At this point, implementing technology selection, designing, and building an onsite treatment plant became a critical path for the startup of the new plant. Figure 2 shows the longer schedule for the municipal system compared with the schedule necessary for the onsite option.

Figure 2: Technology implementation schedule
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