A Case Study in Nitrogen: Kateeva OLED Displays
Customer: Kateeva
Model: 2AN35D-H3321-BLMVA10-20/10T
Gas: Ultra high purity nitrogen
Suction Pressure: .8 psig
Discharge Pressure: 95 psig
Flow: 17.75 SCFM
Situation: California based Kateeva is creating a new class of production equipment for advanced flat panel display products like OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs. Through this process they questioned, what is the most efficient and effective way to compress nitrogen? They desired a compressor manufacturer that would assist in building equipment for their development.
Their major concern was finding a compressor that would not allow outside oxygen to contaminate the manufacturing process and product. It needed to keep nitrogen pure while stopping ingress of oxygen higher than 5 ppb (parts per billion). They struggled to find anyone that would even come close to solving their situation.
Solution: Mr. Mauck could not find a compressor to meet these requirements until he spoke with representatives from Hycomp. The Hycomp team worked together to understand the problem and find the correct solution for Kateeva to meet their difficult requirements.
Justin Mauck, Senior Mechanical Engineer for Kateeva, approached Hycomp with this situation. Hycomp accepted the challenge. They worked together to understand the problem and find the correct solution for Kateeva to meet their difficult requirements.
“Talking to the Hycomp engineers gave me a strong sense that they could really solve our difficult problem,” Mauck commented, “We had a hard time finding anyone that could even come close to meeting our need. When we found Hycomp, I thought ‘this is it’ and I was excited to work with them.”
The solution was a Hycomp ‘H’ Series: Extreme Control packing arrangement. The ‘H’ Series is designed to compress difficult to contain industrial gases. Suction gas is plumbed through the upper plenum chamber, equalizing pressure on, and providing cooling to, the upper packings. Three pairs of packings per rod provide the first isolation of the process gas. A second plenum chamber was added, through which purge gas may be run. Five pairs of segmented packings per rod, with a purge chamber between the top three and the bottom two packings are located in the bottom of the lower plenum chamber.
“Once I understood the technical aspects of the solution, I was confident that the approach was sound and that it would work. This helped me to be really confident when I went to present the solution to my manager and others that had to approve the purchase,” concluded Mauck.
Results: Hycomp tested the compressor at the desired conditions. It was observed that less than 5 ppb oxygen entered the nitrogen gas stream upon compression. The packing arrangement performed as expected. Kateeva received the compressor and installed the unit in to their process. They are still pleased with the performance and have experienced ultra high purity nitrogen results over the last 30 months.
This solution can be customized to not only help Kateeva but also solve your similar concerns. Additional quantities of packings may be added for tighter control. Applications where the suction pressure is lower than the pressure in the upper vent/purge chamber (vacuum or high pressure padding) can also be handled in standard configuration.