News Article
Kyma saving energy with new funding
The supplier of crystalline III-nitride semiconductor materials including GaN, AlN, AlGaN and related products and services, has received funding from the NC Green Business Fund
Kyma Technologies is making energy saving measures to complete in 2011, one of the largest geothermal HVAC systems for cleanroom air handling in North Carolina.
Funded by the North Carolina Green Business Fund, Kyma contracted TriMech to install a 30 ton geothermal HVAC system and a 20 ton energy efficient industrial chiller. The company also enlisted Danco Electrical Contractors to install energy efficient lighting and Kyma itself also installed a facility-wide data acquisition system for energy usage analysis and optimisation.
Kyma estimates that the energy needed to run the facilities for its cleanroom has been reduced by 68% and that overall energy usage of the company has been reduced by 35%.
In addition to immediate energy savings, the data acquisition system will allow continued analysis of other energy-consuming systems to identify additional energy savings opportunities.
The geothermal HVAC unit controls all of the air handling for Kyma’s class 10,000 (ISO 7) cleanroom, and maintains stringent temperature and humidity requirements with 25 air changes per hour using 100% outside air. This unit is one of the largest geothermal units in the state of North Carolina and is claimed to be the only one that uses 100% outside air.
Addison provided the custom HVAC unit that is uniquely designed for parameters outside the normal design space. Kyma is continuing to work with TriMech and Addison engineers to monitor and optimise the operation of the machine.
According to Paul Penland, President of TriMec, “The end results of this very unique and challenging project were very satisfying. This is the only known geothermal heat pump in the state using 100% outside air, and we are breaking new ground in showing that this type of system works and is very energy-efficient.”
Heather Splawn, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Business Development who led the project for Kyma, adds “This project has helped us to significantly lower our costs while simultaneously lowering our impact on the environment. Additionally, we now have a much better understanding of our energy usage which will help in downstream decisions. We are very thankful for the vision of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology and those state legislators who support the NC Green Business Fund.”
The market for nitride semiconductor devices was $12 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $90 billion over the long term; $60 billion in visible lighting applications and $30 billion in power device applications.
