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IE843012L - Production of silicon from quartz - Google Patents

Production of silicon from quartz

Info

Publication number
IE843012L
IE843012L IE843012A IE301284A IE843012L IE 843012 L IE843012 L IE 843012L IE 843012 A IE843012 A IE 843012A IE 301284 A IE301284 A IE 301284A IE 843012 L IE843012 L IE 843012L
Authority
IE
Ireland
Prior art keywords
reducing agent
furnace
carbon
quartz
briquettes
Prior art date
Application number
IE843012A
Other versions
IE57642B1 (en
Original Assignee
Int Minerals & Chem Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Int Minerals & Chem Corp filed Critical Int Minerals & Chem Corp
Publication of IE843012L publication Critical patent/IE843012L/en
Publication of IE57642B1 publication Critical patent/IE57642B1/en

Links

Classifications

    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C22METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
    • C22CALLOYS
    • C22C1/00Making non-ferrous alloys
    • C22C1/02Making non-ferrous alloys by melting
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C01INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C01BNON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
    • C01B33/00Silicon; Compounds thereof
    • C01B33/02Silicon
    • C01B33/021Preparation
    • C01B33/023Preparation by reduction of silica or free silica-containing material
    • C01B33/025Preparation by reduction of silica or free silica-containing material with carbon or a solid carbonaceous material, i.e. carbo-thermal process

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Silicon Compounds (AREA)
  • Carbon And Carbon Compounds (AREA)
  • Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)
  • Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)

Abstract

An electric low-shaft furnace is charged with the raw quartz in granular form together with briquettes of a quartz/carbon reducing agent having excess carbon (>50 wt %) in relation to the reaction SiO2 + 3C = SC + 2CO, the quartz in the briquetted reducing agent is first converted to SiC plus activated carbon at a temperature below 1600 DEG C in an upper section of the furnace, and the molten raw quartz is then reduced at a temperature above 1600 DEG C in a lower section of the furnace. [GB2150128A]

Description

6 4 2 2 This invention relates to the production of silicon from raw quartz.
Specifically, the invention relates generically to a process for the production of silicon from raw quartz in an electric low-shaft furnace,in which the furnace is charged with the raw quartz in granular form together with briquettes of a quartz/carbon reducing agent having excess carbon in relation to- the reaction Si02 + 3C s SiC + 2C0, the quartz in the briquetted reducing agent is first converted to SiC at a temperature below 1600°C, in an uptper section of the furnace, and the molten raw quartz is then reduced at a temperature above 1600°C, preferably between 1800 and 2000°C, in a lower section of the furnace. The briquettes of reducing agent are preferably prepared by briquetting. "Raw quartz" denotes any silica-bearing material used for the production of silicon, more particularly quartzites and quartz sands. The briquettes of reducing agent are usually prepared from quartz sand. Hot briquetting denotes a process using no binders, in which the raw materials are heated to a temperature of M30 to 5 40 °C and compacted under pressure to form briquettes (cf.DE-PS 19 15 905). 3 However, it is within the scope of the invention to use briquettes of reducing agent made by other processes.
The briquettes of reducing agent 5 used in the known process (DE-PS 30 32 720) only have a small excess of carbon in relation to the reaction Si02 + 3C = SiC + 2C0. The actual objective is to achieve as nearly complete conversion as possible of the 10 reagents in thd briquettes of reducing agent that undergo this reaction,i.e., to produce SiC and CO,and then to carry out the reduction of the molten raw quartz at the high temperatures quoted, in the lower section of 15 the low-shaft furnace, with the SiC as reducing agent. The excess carbon is only present because the carbon also reacts with oxygen as it reduces the silica in the briquetted reducing agent, and to this extent 20 is unavailable for silica reduction. In practical terms, when the silica has been reduced in the known process the briquetted reducing agent consists entirely of silicon carbide and no longer contains carbon. The 25 known process has proved sound but is open to improvement in respect of the silicon yield arid the associated energy demand.
Hie object of the invention is to modify the generic process so as to obtain a high silicon yield at a lower energy consumption.
According to the present invention,there is provided a process for the production of silicon frcm raw quartz, as hereinbefore defined, in an electric low-shaft furnace, in which the furnace is charged with the raw quartz in granular form together with briquettes of a quartz/carbon reducing agent having excess carbon in relation to the reaction Si02 + 3C = SiC +2CO, the quartz in the briquetted reducing agent is first converted to SiC at a temperature below 1600°C in an upper section of the furnace, and the molten raw quartz is then reduced at a tenperature above 1600°C in a lcwer section of the furnace, and use is hhHp of briquetted reducing agent having an excess of more than 50 wt.% carbon in relation to the reaction SiOj + 3C - SiC + 2CO, the briquetted reducing agent is converted to SiC plus activated carbon at a temperature below 1600°C in the upper section of the furnace, the briquettes of reducing agent assuming a coke-like structure, and the raw quartz is reduced partly by this activated carbon and partly by the SiC in the lower section of the furnace.
It is preferable to operate with an excess of carbon in the briquetted reducing agent amounting to less than 90 wt.%, preferably about 80 wt.%. Preferably, in order to approach optimum conditions more closely, the process as a whole is carried out in such a manner that the activated carbon reduces at least 50 wt.% of charged raw s quartz in the lower section of the furnace. The burden as a whole is adjusted to give the corresponding material balance. Under these conditions# it is not essential to operate 5 exclusively with briquetted reducing agent of the composition described. 0n the contrary# additions can be made within the limits of a classical mix (comprising for example 3 tons or 3050 kg of quartz / 0.4 tons or 407 kg of 10 wood charcoal / 0.4 tons or 407 kg of peat coke / 0.3 tons or 305 kg of petroleum coke / 0.5 tons or 508 kg of low-ash coal), provided only that care is taken to make adequate amounts of activated carbon available from the 15 briquetttes of reducing agent.
As already stated# the method and procedure for producing the briquetted reducing agent are fundamentally optional.
However# care must be taken to ensure that the 20 briquettes of reducing agent are sufficiently durable to withstand charging into an electric low-shaft furnace in the manner described# as it were as a burden mixed with the raw quartz# and there to react in the manner described. 25 in this connection# use is preferably made of briquettes of reducing agent prepared by the 6 hot briquetting method in the form of ovate or cushion-shaped briquettes in the size range 15 to 60 cm3. in conjunction therewith, it is also advantageous for use to be made of 5 briquettes of reducing agent having a carbon content made up from sufficient caking coal for hot briquetting plus inert carbon carriers such as petroleum coke, anthracite, graphite, brown coal and hard coal.
It is self evident that the process of the invention can be used to make ferrosilicon as well as silicon metal, by charging suitable substances into the electric low-shaft furnace in addition to the raw quartz, 15 including for example ferrous swarf or iron granules.
The invention arises from the discovery that during the carbon reduction of silica in the briquetted reducing agent the 20 formation of silicon carbide is accompanied by the formation of active carbon, which becomes avilable as nascent carbon accompanying the silicon carbide for the reduction of silica in the lower section of the electric low-shaft 25 furnace, and results in an improved yield and a lower energy consumption. This will now be 7 discussed in more detail with reference to a number of embodiments.
Example 1 In order to produce about 600 tons or 5 about 600,000 kg of silicon, 1200 tons or about 1,200,000 kg of briquettes were prepared and charged into the electric low-shaft furnace together with an almost equal amount of lumpy quartz. in the first step of the process, the briquettes were prepared by the hot briquetting method from a mixture of, by weight: % caking coal 15 32% petroleum coke and 38% quartz sand (99.8 % Si02), thus using the coal as a binder at temperatures around 500°C. The prepared briquettes were examined when cold and found 20 to contain (42 +/_ 0.4)SiO2 and (52 +/_ 0.7} Cf ixed. Strength testing showed that point pressure strengths of 150 to 200 kg had been attained, the plasticised and re-cooled coal having 25 bonded together the inert materials, petroleum coke and sand. An internal surface area measurement on the briquettes gave 0.5 to 2 1.0 m /g. This means that there are no surfaces available which could influence the 8 reaction kinetics and give rise to significant heterogeneous conversion reactions between gases such as SiO on the one hand and carbon on the other.
In the second step of the process, the briquettes were charged into an electric low-shaft furnace. At the furnace, the debris resulting from abrasion and crushing during transport was removed by sieving; the 10 proportion of fines was less than 4*. This is a very good result, since wood charcoal, peat coke and other coals undergo much .more comminution and losses of more than 10% are encountered.
The electric furnace was continually charged with a mixture of lumpy quartz and briquettes, which behave similarly in the burden and therefore heat up and react in a statistically uniform mixture.
If one takes the overall reaction of silicon formation: Si02 + 2C = Si + 2 CO, it can be seen from the analysis of the briquettes that they contain an excess of 25 carbon and the complete conversion can only take place by further reaction with the quartz 9 lumps. However, silicon formation is preceded by the formation of silicon carbide according to the equation: Si02 + 3C = SiC + 2 CO 5 which raises the question as to whether the briquettes contain sufficient carbon for this reaction. The calculation shows that the briquettes contain about twice as much carbon as the reaction requires. The molar ratio is 10 between 1 to 5 and 1 to 6. This ratio was aimed at, so that hot briquetting would preserve strong coke structures even if losses occurred by silicon carbide formation.
Evidence for this view was obtained by 15 using thermocouples to determine the termperature interval in which carbide formation takes place. Specimens were taken of material heated to 1500 - 1600°C which clearly showed that the briquettes still 20 retain their original form but reaction between carbon and silicon has already started and can reach completion.
Most of the briquettes had a white surface,demonstrating that local reactions had 25 taken place. However, the internal surface measurements on the cooled briquettes were more significant. They showed an increase in internal surface area of 20 to 230 mVg- This leads to a major reduction in the Si02 recovery from the gas cleaning system.
The energy consumption and silicon yield are closely correlated with this effect. Measurements on the furnace showed that the current consumption was about 14% lower and the Si yield more than 20% higher. 0ne 10 unexpected but important cost-reducing advantage was the halving of the electrode consumption. This fell from 128 kg/ton or 125 kg/1000 kg Si to 59 kg/ton or 58 kg/1000 kg si. The electrode movements were reduced 15 to a minimum.
Example 2.
The conditions are more favourable \ . when producing ferrosilicon. In this case the losses from SiO formation are lower. 20 if one modifies the procedure described in Example 1 so that the ratio of lumpy quartz to briquettes, by weight, remains at 50:50 and adds sufficient ferrous scrap to make a 75% alloy, by weight, the 25 advantages of the briquettes are even more pronounced: The current consumption falls by 8% and the silicon yield increases by 12%.

Claims (8)

11
1. A process for the production of silicon from raw quartz, as hereinbefore defined, in an electric low-shaft furnace, in which the furnace is charged with the raw 5 quartz in granular form together with briquettes of a quartz/carbon reducing agent having excess carbon in relation to the reaction Si02 + 3C " sic + 2C0» the <3uartz in the briquetted reducing agent is first 10 converted to SiC at a temperature below 1600°C in an upper section of the furnace, and the molten raw quartz is then reduced at a temperature above 1600°C , in a lower section of the furnace, and use is made of briquetted 15 reducing agent having an excess of more than 50 wt.% carbon in relation to the reaction
Si02 + 3C « SiC + 200, the briquetted reducing agent is converted to SiC plus activated i ' carbon at a temperature below 1600°C in the 20 upper section of the furnace, the briquettes of reducing agent assuming a coke-like structure, and the raw quartz is reduced partly by this activated carbon and partly by the SiC in the lower section of the furnace. 25 2. A process as in Claim 1, wherein 12 use is made of a briquetted reducing agent having a carbon excess of less than 90wt.%, preferably about 80wt.%.' t
3. A process as claimed in Claim 1 f 5 or 2, wherein the activated carbon from the briquetted reducing agent reduces at least 50wt.% of the charged raw quartz in the lower section of the furnace.
4. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 10 1 to 3, wherein use is made of briquettes of reducing agent made by the hot briquetting method in the form of ovate or cushion-shaped briquettes.
5. A process as claimed in Claim 4, wherein 15 use is made of briquettes of reducing agent having a carbon content made up from sufficient caking coal for hot briquetting plus inert carbon carriers such as petroleum coke, anthracite, graphite, brown coal and 20 hard coal.
6. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 used to make ferrosilicon by charging suitable substances into the electric furnace in addition to the raw quartz, including for L 25 example ferrous swarf or iron granules.
7. A process according to Claim 1 for the production of silicon or fercosllicon from raw quartz in an electic low-shaft furnace, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Example 1 or Example 2.
8. Silicon whenever produced by a process claimed in a preceding claim. F. R. KELLY & CO., AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS.
IE3012/84A 1983-11-26 1984-11-23 Production of silicon from raw quartz IE57642B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE3342890 1983-11-26
DE19843411731 DE3411731A1 (en) 1983-11-26 1984-03-30 METHOD FOR PRODUCING SILICON FROM RAW MATERIAL QUARTZ IN AN ELECTRONIC LOWER FURNACE AND METHOD FOR REDUCING OXIDIC RAW MATERIALS

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
IE843012L true IE843012L (en) 1985-05-26
IE57642B1 IE57642B1 (en) 1993-02-10

Family

ID=25815937

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
IE3012/84A IE57642B1 (en) 1983-11-26 1984-11-23 Production of silicon from raw quartz

Country Status (27)

Country Link
AT (1) AT396460B (en)
AU (1) AU568166B2 (en)
BE (1) BE901114A (en)
BR (1) BR8405974A (en)
CA (1) CA1217032A (en)
CH (1) CH663610A5 (en)
DD (1) DD229102A5 (en)
DE (1) DE3411731A1 (en)
DK (1) DK168003B1 (en)
ES (1) ES537973A0 (en)
FI (1) FI76056C (en)
FR (1) FR2555565B1 (en)
GB (1) GB2150128B (en)
IE (1) IE57642B1 (en)
IN (1) IN162374B (en)
IT (1) IT1177279B (en)
LU (1) LU85649A1 (en)
MX (1) MX162694A (en)
MY (1) MY100749A (en)
NL (1) NL8403572A (en)
NO (1) NO163004B (en)
PH (1) PH22408A (en)
PL (1) PL148125B1 (en)
PT (1) PT79544B (en)
SE (1) SE461647B (en)
YU (1) YU43676B (en)
ZW (1) ZW19184A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3356169A (en) * 1966-04-01 1967-12-05 Emery Co A H Batch weigher with respective dials for successive loads and total weight
DE3541125A1 (en) * 1985-05-21 1986-11-27 International Minerals & Chemical Corp., Northbrook, Ill. METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SILICON OR FERROSILICIUM IN AN ELECTRONIC SHELL OVEN AND FOR THE METHOD SUITABLE RAW MATERIALS
US4981668A (en) * 1986-04-29 1991-01-01 Dow Corning Corporation Silicon carbide as a raw material for silicon production
DE3724541A1 (en) * 1987-07-24 1989-02-02 Applied Ind Materials METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR THE PRODUCTION OF RAW MATERIAL BRIQUETTES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SILICON OR SILICON CARBIDE OR FERROSILICIUM
SE461037B (en) * 1987-10-09 1989-12-18 Skf Plasma Tech COATED BY COAL AND SILICON Dioxide CONTINUOUSLY MAKING LIQUID SILICONE IN A REACTOR
US4997474A (en) * 1988-08-31 1991-03-05 Dow Corning Corporation Silicon smelting process
US4897852A (en) * 1988-08-31 1990-01-30 Dow Corning Corporation Silicon smelting process
US4898712A (en) * 1989-03-20 1990-02-06 Dow Corning Corporation Two-stage ferrosilicon smelting process
DE3923446C1 (en) * 1989-07-15 1990-07-26 Applied Industrial Materials Corp. Aimcor, Deerfield, Ill., Us
EP2331462A2 (en) * 2008-09-30 2011-06-15 Evonik Degussa GmbH Production of solar-grade silicon from silicon dioxide
WO2012163534A1 (en) * 2011-06-03 2012-12-06 Evonik Solar Norge As Starting materials for production of solar grade silicon feedstock
EP2530050A1 (en) * 2011-06-03 2012-12-05 Evonik Solar Norge AS Starting materials for production of solar grade silicon feedstock

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR1530655A (en) * 1967-05-19 1968-06-28 Pechiney Prod Chimiques Sa Manufacture of silicon and its alloys by carbothermal energy
DE1915905C3 (en) * 1969-03-28 1974-07-11 Eschweiler Bergwerks-Verein, 5122 Kohlscheid Process for the production of hot briquettes
BE759122A (en) * 1969-11-19 1971-05-18 Union Carbide Corp PROCESS AND CHARGE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SILICON IN AN ELECTRIC ARC OVEN BY CARBOTHERMAL REDUCTION OF SILICA
GB2008559A (en) * 1977-09-09 1979-06-06 Goldblatt N Z Production of silicon
DE3009808C2 (en) * 1980-03-14 1982-02-18 Coc-Luxembourg S.A., Luxembourg Process for the production of raw material blanks containing silicon and carbon and the use of the raw material blanks
DE3032720C2 (en) * 1980-08-30 1982-12-16 International Minerals & Chemical Luxembourg S.A., 2010 Luxembourg Process for the production of silicon from quartz and carbon in an electric furnace

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2555565B1 (en) 1986-12-26
DE3411731C2 (en) 1987-07-09
ES8600702A1 (en) 1985-11-01
FI844617A0 (en) 1984-11-23
SE8405904L (en) 1985-05-27
PT79544A (en) 1984-12-01
MX162694A (en) 1991-06-17
LU85649A1 (en) 1985-06-04
SE8405904D0 (en) 1984-11-23
ES537973A0 (en) 1985-11-01
ATA373684A (en) 1993-01-15
AT396460B (en) 1993-09-27
PH22408A (en) 1988-08-26
CA1217032A (en) 1987-01-27
GB2150128B (en) 1987-07-29
AU568166B2 (en) 1987-12-17
DK168003B1 (en) 1994-01-17
NL8403572A (en) 1985-06-17
DE3411731A1 (en) 1985-11-07
GB2150128A (en) 1985-06-26
MY100749A (en) 1991-02-14
PL250592A1 (en) 1985-07-30
FR2555565A1 (en) 1985-05-31
AU3586984A (en) 1985-05-30
PT79544B (en) 1986-09-15
IT1177279B (en) 1987-08-26
NO163004B (en) 1989-12-11
FI76056B (en) 1988-05-31
DK557384D0 (en) 1984-11-23
FI844617L (en) 1985-05-27
IT8423680A0 (en) 1984-11-21
ZW19184A1 (en) 1985-05-08
GB8428898D0 (en) 1984-12-27
NO844668L (en) 1985-05-28
DD229102A5 (en) 1985-10-30
BR8405974A (en) 1985-08-06
DK557384A (en) 1985-05-27
IT8423680A1 (en) 1986-05-21
IE57642B1 (en) 1993-02-10
FI76056C (en) 1988-09-09
CH663610A5 (en) 1987-12-31
IN162374B (en) 1988-05-14
YU198784A (en) 1987-12-31
SE461647B (en) 1990-03-12
BE901114A (en) 1985-03-15
YU43676B (en) 1989-10-31
PL148125B1 (en) 1989-09-30

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