산업현장에서 대량으로 사용되는 삼불화질소(NF3), 메탄(CF4), 육불화황(SF6) 등 온난화와 밀접한 가스들의 지구온난화지수(Global Warming Potential, GWP)를 정확히 측정할 수 있는 기술이 개발돼 저탄소 대체가스 개발에 기여할 것으로 기대가 모아진다.
▲KRISS Climate Standards Strategy Technology Research Group (Clockwise from the left in the front row: Director Lim Jeong-sik, Senior Researcher Lee Jeong-sun, Senior Researcher Han No-soo, Senior Researcher Kwon Do-hyeon)
Development of precision measurement technology, prospects for contribution to alternative gas development
A technology has been developed that can accurately measure the global warming potential (GWP) of gases closely related to global warming, such as nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), methane (CF4), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), which are used in large quantities in industrial sites, and it is expected to contribute to the development of low-carbon alternative gases.
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS, President Park Hyeon-min) announced on the 10th that it has developed a high-resolution molecular spectroscopy measurement technology that can accurately measure the radiant efficiency required to calculate GWP.
It is expected that this technology development will provide a verification basis for the global warming impact of eco-friendly alternative gases that are being actively researched in the semiconductor industry and other industries.
Until now, there has been a lack of globally accepted measurement procedures for calculating GWP. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) under the United Nations has presented GWP values for each greenhouse gas through assessment reports, but the measurement values differ from time to time and the academic research results differ from each other, so reliability was lacking.
By utilizing the high-resolution molecular spectroscopy measurement technology recently developed by the KRISS Climate Standards and Strategy Technology Research Group, the highest level of radiation efficiency measurement reliability can be expected. With this achievement, Korea has not only proposed a globally accepted radiation efficiency measurement procedure, but has also become the only country to have established a radiation efficiency measurement procedure based on national standards.
To precisely measure radiation efficiency, the research team applied a high-resolution spectrometer with a resolution 500 times higher than that of existing gas analyzers and measurement quality maintenance technology.
Using this, the radiative efficiency of major greenhouse gases used in semiconductor processes, such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and methane (CF4), as well as candidate alternative gases, was analyzed, and a method to increase the reliability of the GWP value presented by the IPCC was suggested.
This achievement is expected to be utilized in verifying the greenhouse gas reduction effect of low-carbon emission alternative gases, which have been actively discussed in the industry recently. If alternative gases with low GWP are developed and applied to the field based on accurate GWP evaluation, carbon emissions in the industrial sector can be drastically reduced.
Lim Jeong-sik, head of the Climate Standards Strategy Technology Research Group, said, “This achievement will serve as a cornerstone for the domestic industry to secure the initiative in the development of eco-friendly alternative gases amid intensifying environmental regulations worldwide.” He added, “In the future, we will further strengthen the radiant efficiency measurement standards and establish additional atmospheric lifetime measurement standards to further increase the reliability of GWP measurements.”
KRISS plans to establish alternative gas GWP measurement procedures in cooperation with advanced standard research institutes in the U.S., U.K., China, and other countries, as well as international research groups.
