Patent ID: 8607730

Claim:
A substrate liquid processing apparatus comprising: a substrate processing chamber in which substrates are processed one by one with use of a process liquid; a tank disposed in a line for the process liquid connected to the substrate processing chamber and configured to store the process liquid; a liquid level sensor disposed in the tank; a liquid discard part configured to discard the process liquid in the tank; a liquid replenish part configured to replenish the tank with a new process liquid; and a liquid-replacement control part configured to control the liquid discard part based on a liquid disposal condition that has been determined based on one of a number of substrates to be processed in the substrate processing chamber for each replacement and on a time of use of the processing liquid for each replacement, and to control the liquid replenish part based on an output of the liquid level sensor, wherein the liquid-replacement control part is configured to control the liquid replenish part to start a liquid replenish operation when a liquid level of the process liquid in the tank falls below a detection level of the liquid level sensor, and to control the liquid replenish part to terminate the liquid replenish operation when the liquid level of the process liquid in the tank exceeds a detection level of the liquid level sensor, the liquid-replacement control part is configured to control the liquid replenish part to stop the liquid replenish operation until the subsequent liquid replacement is performed while continuously processing the substrates in the substrate processing chamber when a replenish stop condition that has been set based on a difference between the liquid disposal condition and one of the number of substrates and the time of use of the process liquid corresponding to the substantial capacity of the tank is satisfied, and the liquid-replacement part is configured to control the liquid discard part to discard the process liquid in the tank when the liquid disposal condition is satisfied.