Arizona's semiconductor industry is booming as the state faces a future with less water. Researchers are hoping to make every drop used in the water-intensive industry count — and then count again.
Arizona State University researchers are working on ways to reuse wastewater in chip manufacturing, a process that requires high-quality water, and lots of it. The university recently received $2 million in congressionally directed spending through the National Institute for Standards and Technology to support the work.
Paul Westerhoff, an environmental engineer in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at ASU, has worked with various municipalities and companies on water quality and reuse.
Chip manufacturers are drawn to Arizona’s
arid climate, Westerhoff said. Moisture is bad for computer chips, and dehumidification can be expensive — so the state’s dry air is a plus.
But water scarcity is a double-edged sword. Chip manufacturing is water intensive: The fine layers have to be rinsed with tap water treated to an incredibly high level of purity. That water is used for just a flash, but the consumption adds up.
Intel, for example, uses between 5 to 8 million gallons of water per day, Westerhoff said, primarily in the manufacturing process but also for regular office use.
That water is used at least twice, Westerhoff said. Intel, and many other semiconductor manufacturers in the parched Phoenix metro already reuse a large proportion of the wastewater generated during the production of chips for cooling towers and “scrubbers” that prevent air pollution.
The funding was celebrated by Arizona Democrats Greg Stanton, Ruben Gallego, Mark Kelly and Yassamin Ansari. Westerhoff said previous support for the research program has come from both parties, including Republican former Rep. Debbie Lesko, who is now a Maricopa County supervisor.
The university is studying which chemicals in wastewater can damage chips, treating and testing water with advanced characterization methods, and even building chips with treated wastewater as a proof-of-concept.
“We’re working with them to not take their wastewater and reuse it to recharge groundwater, but reusing it onsite to make chips a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time,” Westerhoff said. “So we think that they can do not 20% or 30% reuse, but over 80% reuse of their water.”
Water treatment is inherently energy- and cost-intensive. ASU researchers are working to increase efficiency in evaporating liquid waste to reduce some of the high cost.
But Westerhoff thinks there are a couple of reasons why companies might invest in reusing their industrial wastewater. First, many semiconductor companies are trying to meet sustainability goals and prove that they’re good neighbors – especially in a desert community.
“But, they don’t just do things to do them,” Westerhoff said. “I think there’s a business case to be made for increasing your resiliency on site for reusing water.”
Semiconductor companies already have to treat water coming from municipal systems to bring it to the high quality needed for production, so Westerhoff said the cost of treating wastewater can be brought to a comparable level. It can also reduce environmental liability from wastewater.
The research has applications in other industries and states, he added.
“I really think that what’s happening in Arizona around water is a challenge,” Westerhoff said. “But if we do this right, we can help our community. We can help the economy. But we can also export this knowledge of what we’re doing here.”
Alaina Mencinger covers energy, tech and utilities for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at Alaina.Mencinger@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Making chips takes water. Arizona wants to reuse it
