This paper seeks to determine the reasons why integrated circuit boards are preferred than individual control components especially in HVAC components. The integrated circuit can be defined as a piece of microscopic array of electronic components that have been integrated on the surface of a crystal semiconductor material such as silicon. Integrated circuits are usually referred as chips or ICs. The term integrated is used because it contains more components, circuits and base materials are put together to make a single piece of material. The components in an IC may be single or multiple transistors, resistors, diodes or capacitors.
Transistors are the most common electrical elements in an integrated circuit. For current to flow, diodes act as valves allowing it to pass. Resistors are the passive electrical components in an Integrated circuit. The third component in an integrated circuit is an inductor – that stores energy in the form of the magnetic field.
Hundreds of integrated circuits are manufactured in a clean room in highly controlled processes using thin slices of silicon material after which they are cut into individual IC chips.
On the other hand, individual control components may be transistors, sensors, amplifiers, diodes, resistors or transistors. These components are in their natural state or have been interconnected to form circuits.
Integrated circuits differ from individual control components because, unlike individual control components, components in the chip are diffused into each other in a process known as doping. Discrete circuits have their components made differently and assembled together.
A printed circuit board holds electronic circuits together and can be single or multilayered. When an electroplated copper conductor is used to connect PCBs via holes called via, a three-dimensional electronic circuit is formed.
In HVAC components, integrated circuit boards are preferred over individual control component because of the design, cost, size and functionality. IC’s have a size of 9mm2 but have billions of transistors, resistors or capacitors. Through very-large integration technology, the density of a transistor has been increased significantly giving rise to microprocessors.
The design of integrated circuits is such that it can be obtained as standard off-the-shelf items or customized to suit a particular purpose. Voltage regulators and amplifiers in HVAC components are examples of standard IC’s that have been incorporated into printed circuit boards. It is the reason they are preferred over individual control components.
As earlier stated, hundreds or thousands of circuit boards are manufactured using a tiny piece of silicon after which they are cut into individual IC’s. It is the individual ICs that companies buy and assemble them on a circuit board to develop the desired product. The production of IC boards is economical in the long run that production and assembly of individual control components on an HVAC item.
The raw material used in the manufacture of IC’s is pure silicon and small quantity of dopants. A silicon substrate with ten billion atoms will require only a single impurity of phosphorous or arsenic for N-type or boron for P-type. The thin wire leads connecting the IC with the mounting package is aluminium and the mounting package, and the board is usually ceramic and plastic respectively. These materials are economical considering the function of the IC board compared to the materials required to manufacture the individual control components for the same purpose.
The functionality of the board is the reason IC‘s are preferred over individual control components. IC’s are manufactured in a highly controlled process that involve making the substrate, drilling and plating holes, creating the circuit pattern, attaching the contact fingers, fusing the tin-lead coating, sealing, stencilling and cutting the panels and mounting of electronic components. The probability that electrical components in IC board get spoiled if stored under recommended conditions is insignificant. The circuits in the IC are sealed using epoxy to ensure that they are not exposed and damaged. In contrast, the assembly of individual components such as transistors, resistors and capacitors to serve a particular purpose is subject to numerous errors and inefficiencies which may render the component practically unusable. The probability of electric shocks is high hence inflated defective rates. Likewise, such components may not be safely resulting in accidents that may destroy the entire HVAC components or the building. As a result, IC’s are very safe than individual control elements because, even in failure, a single component is affected leaving the others intact and operational.
Performance of an IC as compared to individual control component is superior. ICs’ have evolved over time – the recent ones being more powerful than earlier versions. There is processing power is massive and can function faster and effectively in HVAC devices than individual control elements. Individual control m elements are subject to latency and hysteresis losses, features that integrated circuit boards do not posses. Transistors are the most common electrical elements in an integrated circuit. For current to flow, diodes act as valves allowing it to pass. Resistors are the passive electrical components in an Integrated circuit.
Works Cited
Ray Mullin, P. S. (2011). Electrical Wiring Residential. Cengage.
Santamouris, M. (2013). Environmental Design of Urban Buildings: An Integrated Approach. Earthscan.
