Precision Under Pressure: Why Semiconductor Manufacturing Demands a Different Kind of Cooling Coil

Semiconductor manufacturing is one of the most demanding environments in industrial production. A single fabrication facility (“fab”) can cost billions of dollars to build, run continuously for decades, and depends on process conditions controlled to fractions of a degree and particle counts measured in the single digits per cubic meter. Cooling coils are a quiet but critical part of that infrastructure — and fabs need coils that look nothing like the ones found in typical commercial, or even industrial, HVAC systems.

At Marlo, we’ve spent decades building custom coils for the industries where “close enough” isn’t good enough — including semiconductor manufacturing, as well as aerospace, automotive, pharmaceutical, and other. So the semiconductor industry is a natural fit for what we do best.

What Makes Fab Cooling Different

Tolerances measured in microns, not degrees

Photolithography, etching, deposition, and other wafer-processing steps are extraordinarily sensitive to temperature swings. Process cooling water loops, makeup air handlers, and recirculating air units all need coils engineered to hold tight, repeatable performance — not just on day one, but for years of continuous operation. That means precise fin spacing, accurate circuiting, and manufacturing tolerances that leave no room for the shortcuts a standard commercial coil can get away with.

Cleanroom compatibility from the ground up

Fabs run cleanrooms rated to ISO Class 1 through Class 5 (and sometimes better) — environments where a single stray particle can ruin a wafer worth thousands of dollars. Coils installed in or near these spaces have to be built and finished to standards that prevent particle shedding, support rigorous cleaning protocols, and avoid introducing any contaminant, from oils to loose fibers, into the airstream. That requires clean-build practices during fabrication, careful material selection, and documentation that satisfies a semiconductor customer’s quality team — not just a generic spec sheet.

Aggressive and unusual fluids

Semiconductor process cooling doesn’t always mean plain water. Fabs frequently run specialty fluids, chemically treated loops, high-purity deionized water systems, or process exhaust streams carrying corrosive byproducts. Standard copper-tube-and-aluminum-fin construction, so common in commercial buildings and some industrial facilities, typically isn’t compatible with these conditions. Coils in these applications need to be engineered material-by-material for the specific fluids being used and the environments in which they will operate.

Redundancy and uptime expectations

A fab that goes down costs its owner enormous sums for every hour of lost production. Cooling systems supporting these facilities are typically designed with redundancy in mind, and every coil in that system needs to perform predictably so operators aren’t troubleshooting mechanical surprises in a facility that can’t afford unplanned downtime.

How Marlo is Built for the Semiconductor Industry

Marlo has never been a one-size-fits-all coil manufacturer. We engineer to order to meet specific needs, and build with specialized materials when they are needed. And that’s exactly the mindset semiconductor projects demand.

Tight-tolerance engineering

We design and build coils to the precise circuiting, fin spacing, and dimensional tolerances that sensitive process applications require, working from customer performance data rather than a generic catalog selection. Our state-of-the art manufacturing facility utilizes the latest automated technology to deliver maximum precision in every cut, bend and weld. 

In addition, our coils are AHRI certified. That means that an independent third-party organization tests our coils to ensure they perform as promised over a range of operational conditions. This offers another assurance that our coils will do what we say they will do, so you can be sure that when performance matters, Marlo coils will deliver.

Clean-environment experience

Our team understands what it takes to design, fabricate, handle, and finish coils destined for cleanroom and other high-purity applications. Plus, we regularly produce industrial process coils with airtight housings to eliminate cross contamination of airstreams in critical environments.

Material flexibility beyond the standard build

Where a typical coil manufacturer offers copper tubes, aluminum fins, and a galvanized steel casings, Marlo works in a much broader material palette — including stainless steel, titanium, copper-nickel, and other alloys — matched to the specific fluid chemistry, corrosion resistance, and purity requirements of the application. When a process fluid or exhaust stream would degrade standard materials, we build with a coil that will delivery lasting performance.

Custom, never off-the-shelf

Every Marlo coil is engineered to the job. For semiconductor customers, that means working directly with mechanical engineers and facility owners to match coil design to the specific thermal load, water chemistry, spatial constraints, and cleanliness standards of their fab — rather than forcing the application to fit a standard product line.

The CHIPS Act and a Growing Need for Specialized Cooling

The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act set out to rebuild domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity, and the investment has been substantial. The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded more than $30 billion in direct funding, along with billions more in loans, across roughly 40 commercial fab projects with a number of different companies. A companion 35% investment tax credit has supported capital spending on new fabs and the equipment inside them, provided construction begins by the end of 2026.

The policy landscape around CHIPS Act funding continues to evolve — award terms have been renegotiated with some recipients, and FY2026 marks the final year of the program’s original appropriations to the Department of Commerce, with Congress still weighing what comes next. Regardless of how the funding mechanisms shift, the underlying trend is clear: dozens of new and expanded fabs are under construction or ramping toward production across the U.S.

Every one of those facilities needs mechanical infrastructure built to semiconductor-grade standards, and cooling is a significant part of that scope. As more fabs move from groundbreaking to operation, the demand for coils that can meet tight tolerances, cleanroom requirements, and specialty fluid compatibility is growing right along with them. And Marlo stands ready to help meet that demand.

Contact Marlo for the Specialized Coils you Need

At Marlo, we’ve spent decades building the engineering depth and material expertise that semiconductor cooling applications demand. As the U.S. semiconductor industry expands, we’re ready to continue to partner with fab owners, mechanical contractors, and engineering firms to design and build the custom coils these facilities depend on — coils engineered for the tolerances, cleanliness, and materials these demanding environments require.

If you’re planning cooling infrastructure for a semiconductor facility, reach out to the Marlo team or your local Marlo representative to talk through your application needs.