WO2001034519A1 - Method and apparatus for production of fotovoltaic grade silicon - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for production of fotovoltaic grade silicon Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2001034519A1 WO2001034519A1 PCT/NO2000/000295 NO0000295W WO0134519A1 WO 2001034519 A1 WO2001034519 A1 WO 2001034519A1 NO 0000295 W NO0000295 W NO 0000295W WO 0134519 A1 WO0134519 A1 WO 0134519A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- cylinder
- silicon
- reactor
- tungsten
- alloy
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status 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 status listed.)
- Ceased
Links
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
- C01B33/00—Silicon; Compounds thereof
- C01B33/02—Silicon
- C01B33/021—Preparation
- C01B33/027—Preparation by decomposition or reduction of gaseous or vaporised silicon compounds other than silica or silica-containing material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J19/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J19/02—Apparatus characterised by being constructed of material selected for its chemically-resistant properties
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J19/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J19/24—Stationary reactors without moving elements inside
- B01J19/2415—Tubular reactors
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- H10F71/00—Manufacture or treatment of devices covered by this subclass
- H10F71/121—The active layers comprising only Group IV materials
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J2219/00049—Controlling or regulating processes
- B01J2219/00051—Controlling the temperature
- B01J2219/00132—Controlling the temperature using electric heating or cooling elements
- B01J2219/00135—Electric resistance heaters
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J2219/00049—Controlling or regulating processes
- B01J2219/00051—Controlling the temperature
- B01J2219/0015—Controlling the temperature by thermal insulation means
- B01J2219/00155—Controlling the temperature by thermal insulation means using insulating materials or refractories
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J2219/02—Apparatus characterised by their chemically-resistant properties
- B01J2219/025—Apparatus characterised by their chemically-resistant properties characterised by the construction materials of the reactor vessel proper
- B01J2219/0277—Metal based
- B01J2219/029—Non-ferrous metals
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J2219/18—Details relating to the spatial orientation of the reactor
- B01J2219/185—Details relating to the spatial orientation of the reactor vertical
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J2219/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J2219/19—Details relating to the geometry of the reactor
- B01J2219/194—Details relating to the geometry of the reactor round
- B01J2219/1941—Details relating to the geometry of the reactor round circular or disk-shaped
- B01J2219/1943—Details relating to the geometry of the reactor round circular or disk-shaped cylindrical
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
- Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- Y02E10/547—Monocrystalline silicon PV cells
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
- Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for production of photovoltaic grade silicon.
- PV photovoltaic
- Production of electronic grade silicon is mainly produced according to the so-called Siemens process where silane, SiH, or chlorosilanes such as silicontetrachloride (STC) or trichlorosilane (TCS) is supplied to a bell-shaped reactor containing thin silicon rods which are heated by supply of electric current to a temperature above the dissociation temperature whereby silicon is deposited on the silicon rods in the reactor.
- STC silicontetrachloride
- TCS trichlorosilane
- SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RU! E 26) costs for the production equipment is also substantially lower.
- this method has up till now been used cylinders made from silicon either in the form of a one-piece silicon pipe or in the form of a silicon pipe consisting of a plurality of sections. Due to the brittleness of silicon, the silicon cylinder has to be supported by an outer cylinder of a material having a higher mechanical strength than silicon.
- This method has the disadvantage that one-piece silicon cylinders are very costly to produce, while it by use of silicon cylinders consisting of a plurality of sections always will exist a danger of gas leakage in the joints between the sections whereby the silane gas can react with the material in the outer cylinder and cause contamination of the silicon produced in the reactor. For the above reasons this method is far less used than the Siemens process.
- Scrap silicon from the electronic industry is very pure and even if the scrap silicon cannot be used in the electronic industry it can be used in the PV industry.
- the PV industry has, however, a faster growing rate than the electronic industry, and for this reason there will in the near future be a shortage of pure silicon which can be used in the PV industry. In the worst case this can slow down the development of solar energy and thus put an end to the development of this part of renewable energy sources.
- the present invention relates to a method for production of high purity silicon where a silane or a chlorosilane is supplied to one end of a cylinder-shaped pipe reactor which reactor is heated to a temperature above the dissociation temperature of the silane or chlorosilane and where the produced silicon is deposited on the inner walls of the cylinder, said method being characterized in that it is used a cylinder- shaped pipe reactor made from a metal or an alloy having a higher melting point than silicon and which has a low solubility in solid silicon and where heat is supplied to the reactor by supply of electric energy to the cylinder. It is preferred to use a cylinder made from tungsten, but other metals such as zirconium, vanadium, titanium, hafnium, tantalum and molybdenum can also be used.
- the cylinder can be made from alloys where all alloying elements have low solubility in solid silicon.
- alloys are tungsten-iron alloy, with a tungsten content which gives the alloy a liquidus temperature that is higher than the melting point of silicon.
- alloys of the elements tungsten, zirconium, vanadium, titanium, hafnium, tantalum and molybdenum.
- a layer of heat insulating material is arranged on the outside of the cylinder in order to reduce heat losses from the reactor.
- the electric energy for heating of the reactor can either be supplied to the cylinder-shaped reactor via terminals or by induction.
- the method according to the present invention it is obtained an effective production of silicon as the necessary heat energy is supplied directly to the metal cylinder. Further, the produced silicon is of a high purity as the amount of contamination in the silicon from the cylinder is limited to be solubility of the material in solid silicon.
- the present invention relates to an apparatus for production of high purity silicon, wherein said apparatus comprises an open-ended cylinder made from a metal or an alloy having a higher melting point than silicon and having a low solubility on solid silicon, means for supply of silane or a chlorosilane to one end of the cylinder, means for removal of reaction gases from the other end of the cylinder and means for supply of electric energy to the cylinder in order to heat the cylinder to reaction temperature.
- the cylinder is made from tungsten, but cylinders made from other metals such as zirconium, vanadium, titanium, hafnium, tantalum and molybdenum can also be used.
- the cylinder can also be made from alloys where all the alloying elements have a low solubility in solid silicon. Examples of such alloys are tungsten-iron alloys having a tungsten content which gives the alloy a liquidus temperature which is higher than the melting point of silicon.
- the cylinder can be made from alloys of the elements tungsten, zirconium, vanadium, titanium, hafnium, tantalum and molybdenum.
- the cylinder has a layer of heat insulating material on its outside.
- the present invention it is possible to produce PV grade silicon in an economic viable way. Further, when silicon has been deposited on the inner walls of the cylinder and the process is stopped, the cylinder can be used as a mould for melting and directional crystallisation of the produced silicon.
- Figure 1 shows a vertical cut through an apparatus according to the present invention.
- FIG 1 there is shown a cylinder-shaped pipe 1 made from a metal having a higher melting point than silicon, such as tungsten.
- the pipe has end caps 2, 3 at its upper and lower ends made from the same metal as the cylinder-shaped pipe 1.
- a supply pipe 4 for a mixture of silane and hydrogen in the upper end cap 2
- an outlet pipe 5 for reaction gases in the lower end cap 3
- the cylinder-shaped pipe 1 is in its upper and lower ends connected to an electric current source 8 via terminals 6 and 7 for heating of the pipe 1 to reaction temperature.
- the cylinder-shaped pipe 1 can be heated by induction.
- the pipe 1 has a heat insulating layer 9 on its outside in order to reduce heat losses from the pipe 1.
- the pipe 1 is purged with nitrogen or another inert gas in order to remove all air from the reactor.
- the pipe 1 is heated by means of the electric current source 8 to a temperature above the dissociation temperature for silane and chlorosilane, but below the melting point of silicon.
- the supply of silane or chlorosilane and H 2 through the supply pipe 4 is started.
- the supplied silane or chlorosilane will at the temperature in the reaction chamber dissociate and pure silicon will be deposited on the inner walls of the pipe 1. As the process is proceeding it will be formed a layer 10 of pure silicon on the inner walls of the pipe 1. Off-gases from the process is removed via the outlet pipe 5.
- silicon can be produced in a simple and effective way, which silicon is only contaminated by the amount of the metal or alloying elements in the pipe 1 that is soluble in solid silicon.
- the produced silicon has a purity which fulfill the requirement to photovoltaic grade silicon.
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
- Silicon Compounds (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU76925/00A AU7692500A (en) | 1999-11-11 | 2000-09-11 | Method and apparatus for production of fotovoltaic grade silicon |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| NO1999550719991111 | 1999-11-11 | ||
| NO995507A NO995507D0 (en) | 1999-11-11 | 1999-11-11 | Method and apparatus for producing photovoltaic-grade silicon |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| WO2001034519A1 true WO2001034519A1 (en) | 2001-05-17 |
Family
ID=19903967
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NO2000/000295 Ceased WO2001034519A1 (en) | 1999-11-11 | 2000-09-11 | Method and apparatus for production of fotovoltaic grade silicon |
Country Status (3)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU7692500A (en) |
| NO (1) | NO995507D0 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2001034519A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP1798199A4 (en) * | 2004-08-19 | 2011-05-18 | Tokuyama Corp | REACTOR ADAPTED TO CHLOROSILANE COMPOUNDS |
Citations (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3014791A (en) * | 1958-10-01 | 1961-12-26 | Merck & Co Inc | Pyrolysis apparatus |
| FR1582720A (en) * | 1967-09-25 | 1969-10-03 | ||
| GB1364099A (en) * | 1970-12-07 | 1974-08-21 | Dow Corning | Production method for polycrystalline semiconductor bodies |
| US4237150A (en) * | 1979-04-18 | 1980-12-02 | The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy | Method of producing hydrogenated amorphous silicon film |
| CA1144739A (en) * | 1978-05-03 | 1983-04-19 | Ernest G. Farrier | Production of low-cost polycrystalline silicon powder |
| DE4127819A1 (en) * | 1991-08-22 | 1993-02-25 | Wacker Chemitronic | Discontinuous silicon@ prodn. by thermal decomposition - in which deposition occurs on inner wall of silicon@ tube and deposit is collected by periodically melting |
-
1999
- 1999-11-11 NO NO995507A patent/NO995507D0/en unknown
-
2000
- 2000-09-11 AU AU76925/00A patent/AU7692500A/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-09-11 WO PCT/NO2000/000295 patent/WO2001034519A1/en not_active Ceased
Patent Citations (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3014791A (en) * | 1958-10-01 | 1961-12-26 | Merck & Co Inc | Pyrolysis apparatus |
| FR1582720A (en) * | 1967-09-25 | 1969-10-03 | ||
| GB1364099A (en) * | 1970-12-07 | 1974-08-21 | Dow Corning | Production method for polycrystalline semiconductor bodies |
| CA1144739A (en) * | 1978-05-03 | 1983-04-19 | Ernest G. Farrier | Production of low-cost polycrystalline silicon powder |
| US4237150A (en) * | 1979-04-18 | 1980-12-02 | The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy | Method of producing hydrogenated amorphous silicon film |
| DE4127819A1 (en) * | 1991-08-22 | 1993-02-25 | Wacker Chemitronic | Discontinuous silicon@ prodn. by thermal decomposition - in which deposition occurs on inner wall of silicon@ tube and deposit is collected by periodically melting |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP1798199A4 (en) * | 2004-08-19 | 2011-05-18 | Tokuyama Corp | REACTOR ADAPTED TO CHLOROSILANE COMPOUNDS |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU7692500A (en) | 2001-06-06 |
| NO995507D0 (en) | 1999-11-11 |
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