With agricultural demand projected to drive liquid nitrogen (LN2) prices up more than 50% in the next two years, a high-volume optical coating company looked to us for options to help reduce their $25,000/chamber/year LN2 costs for their in-chamber Meissner coils and diffusion pump cold traps. We provided a detailed analysis of their requirements to best determine a replacement solution, and a fine-tuned total cost of ownership (TCO) to drive buy-in from management.
We first provided a detailed analysis of their chamber thermal and vacuum requirements to properly size a closed-loop cryochiller system to their coating system. This allowed us to ensure that the cryochiller had the thermal capacity to easily meet their process needs while keeping the capital costs as low possible.
With a four minute cool-down or warm-up time, the cryochiller would also reduce their door-to-door cycle time. To better assist our customer’s technical team in convincing management of the value of replacing their LN2 systems, we provided a detailed ten year projected total cost of ownership comparison between a cryochiller and the existing LN2 system. Combining their current and projected electricity and LN2 costs, labor costs, and projected maintenance costs, our TCO estimate (below) projected a cost-saving in less than two years, and a total cost savings of more than $200,000 per chamber over ten years.
If you’re worried that your liquid nitrogen costs are going to make your profits evaporate, contact us at info@rydberg-vs.com today.
