Bulk Silane System

The client, a silicon wafer and digital memory manufacturer, hired SSOE to provide detailed design for a new bulk silane system at their facility in Idaho. The proposed area for the system was constrained by existing campus structures, and required careful planning for both the finished design and the construction phases to ensure constructability. The project faced two major challenges from the beginning:

• Silane storage was on the opposite side of a road from the use area, requiring an over-road trestle system to safely deliver the hazardous material.
• Final equipment selection would not be made until week six of the project, posing an immediate delay to traditional design approaches.

Over-Road Trestle Solution
Silane gas is a flammable and pyrophoric gas that requires special storage and handling. It is also the source of silicon for high tech manufacturing processes. In addition to designing the storage, containment, and mitigation measures for the Silane storage, SSOE’s team designed a robust trestle system that would safely move the gas from the point of storage to the point of use over a public roadway running through the client’s site.

Flexible Scheduling
In a typical project, civil and architectural disciplines lead by establishing the preliminary building shell, with mechanical, electrical, and process design following. Structural is involved at every stage, but performs the bulk of their work after the mechanical and process mechanical systems are in place, and the structural and seismic support needs of the equipment is better understood. For this project, SSOE delayed the civil, structural, and architectural work related to the shell to focus on mechanical and process designs, like for the silane distribution loops, which would not be majorly impacted by the final equipment selection. Once the crucial selections were made, SSOE was prepared to continue with the remainder of the design, and there was no wasted time in the client’s project schedule.