Solvay develops on-site fluorine gas production units to dramatically decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the photovoltaic and semiconductor industry

New cost-effective F2 production units enable substitution of potent greenhouse gas NF3 in photovoltaic, semiconductor and display industry

Solvay announced today that it is going to test a new on-site electronic grade fluorine gas (F2) production unit at its industrial site in Onsan, Korea. After testing, the unit will be installed at a customer site. This production equipment with a capacity of 100 metric tons electronic grade F2 gas per year makes it possible to produce this rather limited quantity in cost-effective way. And as the device is modular, it is easy to increase capacity if needed.

F2 is a good replacement for nitrogen trifluoride gas (NF3) as cleaning gas in the photovoltaic, semiconductor and display industry as F2 has no global warming potential compared to NF3 which is a 17,200 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). Furthermore, replacing NF3 with fluorine gas decreases both the consumed gas volume and the cleaning time, which both enable the customers to increase productivity.

“With this breakthrough technology we can offer our customers tailor-made solutions whatever their needs. With its long-standing experience as Fluor producer, Solvay is the only company able to offer to customers a reliable and optimal solution for any quantity, from a limited number of kilos to several hundred tons pure fluorine gas per year,” says Bernd Wilkes, Senior Executive Vice President of Solvay’s Global Business Unit Special Chemicals.
“This proprietary technology combines significant advantages for the environment with clear productivity improvements and cost savings for the customers, which brings Solvay once again a step closer to becoming a global leader in sustainable chemistry,” he adds.

SOLVAY is an international industrial Group active in Chemistry. It offers a broad range of products and solutions that contribute to improving quality of life. The Group is headquartered in Brussels and employs about 14,800 people in 40 countries.
In 2010, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 7.1 billion. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels, Belgium (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR).