Helping to reduce our plant’s footprint
With the environment in mind, Sony has launched initiatives in Japan and around the world that address both the way our products perform and the many ways they are produced.
Factory operations that keep the environment in mind
Sony is focused on reducing our environmental footprint, starting where our products are born. For example, CMOS image sensor production requires extreme clean room air conditioning. We have taken steps to ensure that the rooms are energy efficient while maintaining the work space quality levels required to produce one of our highly technical products.
New CMOS image sensors made in new energy-efficient clean rooms
Powering precision manufacturing clean rooms with energy efficiency
CMOS image sensors are the electronic eyes of smartphones and digital cameras. Every Xperia™, and countless other devices from cameras to cars, has one. Today’s latest semiconductors, such as CMOS image sensors, cannot be made without a clean room and it takes a lot of energy to maintain the required temperatures, humidity and cleanliness.
Everyone is responsible for the environment
Empowering factory employees to innovate environmental workplace solutions
To maintain the high-level clean room conditions necessary for the fine processing of semiconductors, it is essential to leverage the experience and knowledge of internal stakeholders. They are key to the improvement efforts that can reduce environmental impact while maintaining the clean room standards required for product quality and high-production yields.
Case 1: Nagasaki Plant
Using waste heat more effectively
Doing more with the energy we already have
Recycling excess heat to reduce total energy consumption
We focused on cutting the energy use of the air-conditioning system at the Nagasaki Technology Center. In semiconductor manufacturing, it is important to keep the clean room within a certain temperature range and humidity. To achieve this, the temperature of the air taken in from outside is adjusted by either cooling or heating.
Energy for this plant’s steam heating previously came from burning fossil fuels. By replacing this with the heat given off by the equipment operating in the plant, we have increased our energy efficiency by approximately 2.1 times.
[1] Airflow from air conditioning plant [2] Cooling equipment [3] Boiler [4] Semiconductor fabrication plant
Before
In the previous system, a boiler supplied air to mix with chilled air for precise temperature control of the clean room air. To keep the room temperature consistent, the clean room machinery had to be cooled with chilled air that was then exhausted outside the clean room as waste heat. Heat energy released by machinery operation was not being put to productive use.
After
In the new system, the clean room machinery’s waste heat has replaced the steam generated by the boiler for clean room temperature control. By closing an energy loop, waste heat has been successfully recycled to work productively inside the plant and reduce the consumption of fossil fuel and CO2 emissions.
[1] per year
Helping energy efficiency and CO2 emissions
The new system has realized two key environmental benefits: Increasing overall energy efficiency by repurposing waste heat and helping to reduce our CO2 emissions by lowering fossil fuel consumption. The new system has reduced CO2 emissions by about 52% from the previous system's approximately 9,300 tons to approximately 4,400 tons.
Our energy-saving measures could not impact production
Shinnosuke Baba
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation
Facility Div.
Nagasaki Technology Center mainly manufactures semiconductor CMOS image sensors for smartphone cameras. To deliver high-quality products to customers across the world, the Facility Division works around the clock to ensure that energy for the entire production infrastructure is stable and used efficiently.
We asked ourselves the question, "How much factory waste heat can we reuse?" The new system captures and reuses substantial waste heat from our production equipment and utility facilities. Using experience and data analysis, we are devising improved heat balance control to implement energy-saving measures without affecting production. We want people to be able to say what we are doing is "great in a quiet way!"
Case 2: SDT Thailand
Creatively reducing air conditioning demand
Smarter, more targeted air conditioning
Sony Device Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (SDT) handles semiconductor assembly and shipping. By remapping air flows using "partial air conditioning" and raising refrigerated water temperatures, they have been able to run clean rooms with far less energy.
[1] Air conditioning plant [2] Cooled air [3] Heated air [4] Fabrication plant
Before
Powerful fans blew chilled air from the ceiling to cool both the entire room and the machinery, with waste heat being sucked through vents in the floor.
After
The new system uses natural convection, with chilled air entering at the floor level where heat-producing machinery is. Warm air then naturally rises to the ceiling to be recycled, carrying dust particles with it away from the work surfaces.
Good for energy efficiency and for Sony
Optimizing airflows for improved efficiency
The new system has reduced CO2 emissions by about 67% compared with the previous system, from approximately 4,000 tons to approximately 1,300 tons. Newly introduced HVAC units control airflow more efficiently by directing air towards production machines. The new airflow strategies also carry unwanted dust to the ceiling and away from production areas.
[1] per year
Simulating an ideal energy-performance balance
Hirotoshi Kikuchi
Sony Technology (Thailand) Co. Ltd
CWS-Asia Pacific OFFICE
Energy management at the factory is a constant search for ways to maintain manufacturing quality while using less energy and with a reduced impact on the environment. Our aim to introduce an air conditioning system based on natural air convection required repeated rounds of simulations and data analyses. Because this system is very different from conventional AC systems, we also needed the support of the men and women in manufacturing to verify there were no adverse effects on their workplace environment.
This system is also installed in the Xperia™ assembly factory in Thailand (Sony Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd). Other Asian factories are scheduled to renew their utility equipment in the near future and we hope to advance our energy-saving measures alongside this renewal. Our hope is to achieve even greater energy savings and continue to increase the supply of Sony products worldwide from factories that keep the environment in mind.
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