Continuous gas saturation system and method

Abstract

Provided are a system and method for saturating a gas with a vapor from a liquid chemical. The system includes: (a) a saturation vessel connected to receive a liquid chemical and a carrier gas; (b) a gas sparger in the saturation vessel for sparging the carrier gas into the liquid chemical; (c) means for maintaining the liquid chemical in the saturation vessel at a substantially constant level; (d) means for controlling the temperature of the liquid chemical in the saturation vessel to a desired value, comprising (I) a system for cooling the liquid chemical, and (ii) a heater inside the saturation vessel extending vertically in the liquid a distance at least half of the height of the liquid chemical level for heating the liquid chemical; and (e) means for controlling the pressure of the saturated gas to a desired value. The invention also relates to novel methods and systems for controlled delivery of a vaporized liquid chemical. The invention has particular applicability to the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.