National Graphene Institute

The building is divided into three laboratory areas:

• The lower ground floor cleanrooms (32 POU)
• The first and second floor analytical laboratories (12 POU)

The third floor chemistry laboratory and furnace room (20 POU) All the laboratory areas require high quality water supplies. The cleanrooms need a total of 3000 l/h of Type 1+ ultrapure water distributed to 32 points of use (POU) – all of which need to meet a customised water quality specification. This specification is based on the ASTM D5127 Standard Guide for Ultra Pure Water used in the Electronics and Semiconductor Industry Type E1.2, but with some parameters at significantly lower concentrations

Veolia’s engineers worked in partnership with Balfour Beatty Engineering Services’ team to develop bespoke solutions for each of the laboratory and clean room areas. In the third floor chemistry laboratory, softened water is fed to a Centra 200 standard packaged unit that delivers Type 3 water to a reservoir. This water is pumped through a mixed bed deionisation cylinder to polish it to Type 1 quality, and then on to a distribution loop, to the points of use, with the unused water returning to the reservoir. Veolia’s highly innovative solution provided the flexibility required in the first and second floor laboratories by supplying 12 PURELAB® Option Q water purifiers that can be moved around the area and connected to a convenient mains water supply anywhere in the laboratory, using a special flexible connection device. To produce the exceptionally high quality ultrapure water for the cleanrooms, Veolia’s engineers designed a bespoke plant using state-of-the-art technology.

The Result

• 12 PURELAB® Option Q across 3 laboratory areas
• 7,825m2 building area
• 1,500m2 of Class 100 and 1000 cleanrooms
• Supply 3000 l/h ultrapure water
• Supply 200 l/h Type 1 laboratory water
• Delivered on time and on budget