Fluid storage and dispensing system including dynamic fluid monitoring of fluid storage and dispensing vessel

摘要

A monitoring system for monitoring fluid in a fluid supply vessel during operation including dispensing of fluid from the fluid supply vessel. The monitoring system includes (i) one or more sensors for monitoring a characteristic of the fluid supply vessel or the fluid dispensed therefrom, (ii) a data acquisition module operatively coupled to the one or more sensors to receive monitoring data therefrom and responsively generate an output correlative to the characteristic monitored by the one or more sensors, and (iii) a processor and display operatively coupled with the data acquisition module and arranged to process the output from the data acquisition module and responsively output a graphical representation of fluid in the fluid supply vessel, billing documents, usage reports, and/or resupply requests.

主权项

1. A monitoring system for real-time, continuous monitoring of fluid inventory in an array of fluid-containing vessels in an ion implanter gas box during dispensing of fluid to an ion implanter from on-stream one(s) of said vessels, wherein the fluid-containing vessels include a sorbent medium having sorptive affinity for the fluid and from which the fluid is desorbed under dispensing conditions, said monitoring system comprising:
at least one temperature sensor configured to sense gas box temperature; at least one pressure sensor configured to continuously sense pressure of fluid within said on-stream one(s) of the vessels or as it leaves said on-stream one(s) of the vessels; a data acquisition module configured to reside in the gas box, coupled to the at least one temperature sensor and at least one pressure sensor to receive sensing signals from such sensors and to process the signals to generate a corresponding data signal output; a fiber optic cable configured to be coupled to the data acquisition module in the gas box and to extend through a wall of the gas box and exteriorly of the ion implanter, for transmission of the data signal output of the data acquisition module; a display arranged for continuously outputting fluid inventory information for said array of said vessels; and a processor coupled to the fiber optic cable exteriorly of the ion implanter to receive the data signal output from the fiber optic cable for the array of said vessels wherein the processor algorithmically determines from said data signal output, using isotherm equations, the amount of fluid remaining in each of the on-stream one(s) of the vessels, and responsively generates on the display a real-time graphical representation of fluid inventory in each of the fluid-containing vessels in the array, wherein said real-time graphical representation comprises a rectangular field and an upper boundary line whose position in the rectangular field indicates fluid inventory of said vessels and wherein the upper boundary line is vertically downwardly translated in the display as the fluid is dispensed from the vessel(s).