Life Cycle Assessment: Case Study In Wafer Fabrication

• Main Author: Murad, Marfaiza
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: T1-995 Technology(General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/60839/1/24%20Pages%20from%2000001780698.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/60839/

Wafer fabrication is the heart of semiconductor manufacturing process and is regards as the core of electronic industries in Malaysia. As more plants of wafer fabrication are being set up in Malaysia, a great concern for the environmental impact has emerged and needs to be investigated. This research has been conducted in order to evaluate the environmental impact of two wafer types - Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) and Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (lGBT) fabrication, based on life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. In this study, only raw material and energy flows that entering and exiting the manufacturing plants were considered. This is also known as "gate-to-gate" study. The System for Integrated Environmental Assessment Product (SimaPro) 7.1 modelling software with Eco-Indicator 99 method were utilized to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of wafer fabrication processes. Based on the results, damage to resources due to fossil fuel depletion was identified as the worst environmental impact for both wafer manufacturing caused by the huge amount of electricity consumption.