SOLAR-GRADE SILICON FROM SILICA FUME RECOVERY WITH

HYBRID HYDROMETALLURGY AND PYROMETALLURGY

PROCESS AS VALUE IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS SELL SIDE
PRODUCTS OF FERROSILICON INDUSTRY
Deariska1*, Rizki Januarita2, Prof.Dr.rer.nat., Heru Susanto3
Department of Chemical Engineering, Diponegoro University, Jalan Prof.Soedharto, SH,
50275 Semarang, Indonesia
2
Department of Environment Engineering, Diponegoro University, Jalan Prof.Soedharto, SH,
50275 Semarang, Indonesia
*Corresponding author. E-mail: dahlan.deariska@gmail.com
1,3

Summary
Silica fume (SiO2 (fume)) is a byproduct of ferrosilicon industry that are used as an additive in concrete.
It has potential as a feedstock for the manufacture of Solar-grade silicon which the demand rises
because of higher needed of Photo Voltaic Cell. This research efforts with Silicon recovery with Solargrade quality using hybrid hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy methods. Silica fume was leached
with HCl 1, 2, 4N at 90oC for 4 hours. The residues were analyzed by XRD and the lowest impurity
residues were roasted at 700C for 2 hours. The reduced samples with Mg 98% in molar ratio of 3:1
and 2:1 were analyzed by XRD and lowest impurity samples were leached in two stages with HCL, a
mixture of HF 4.8% w/w, and acetic acid 25% w/w. Products were analyzed by Inducedly Coupled
Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy and Si products were obtained with purity 99.0% w/w with
critical impurities such as P, B and As were low, so it was feasible to be used as a Solar-grade Silicon.

Motivation
Silica fume was generally used as an additive in concrete. From the current mass balance
study of the formation process, silica fume had the potential to be recovered into silicon [1]. The use of
silica fume into silicon was a good step, because it will increase the resale value. In mid-2012, solargrade cost from 2000 to 2500 USD per ton[2]. Meanwhile, Silica fume cost which was directly sold as
a concrete additive material was U.S. $ 100-200 per ton[3] . So this experiments conducted to improve
the resale value with recovered in hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgy to be solar-grade silicon
which was comparable with solar-grade silicon quality on the market.

Results
In this research, the results indicated that the control variable conditions of operating temperature
900C and operating time of 4 hours, the best Leaching of Silica fume are gotten with 4N HCl (Fig.1).
The control variable conditions of operating temperature 750 oC and operating time of 2 hours, the best
reduction using Mg is done with a 2:1 molar ratio (Fig.2). Silica fume can be used as feedstock for the
manufacture of SOG-Si. By using a hybrid process in this experiment, Si by 99% and total impurity
levels of P, B, and As can be generated. Major impurities contained in the silicon with the results of
this hybrid process are Ca, Al, Mg and K which can be removed easily using the simple metallurgical
refining techniques

References
[1] Myrhaug, E.H., H. Tveit. (2000). Material balances of trace elements in the ferrosilicon and
silicon processes, Electric Furnace Conference, AIST Warrendale, PA, pp. 591604.
[2] Dallan Chem. Imp. & Exp. Group Co., Ltd. 2012. [online] Available at
<www.alibaba.com/productgs/527037630/Silicon_Metal_for_metallurgic l_and_electronics>
[Accessed on Oktober 9th 2012]
[3] Tenigeer Dalian International Trading Co., Ltd. [online] Available at <www.alibaba.com/productgs/2201740307/silica_fume> [Accessed on Oktober 9th 2012]

Figures and tables

Fig. 1: Leaching effect of the impurity silica fume

Fig 2: XRD spectrum of the sample that is reduced by Mg

Table 1. Chemistry Analysis From Si Product (in ppmw)
Unsure
B
P
Ca
Fe
Al
Ni
K
As

Concentration
<3*
<100*
1041
1203
2255
40
1420
1

Unsure
Ba
Mg
Cr
Mo
Mn
Zn
V
Cd

Consentration
6
3637
9
10
150
67
1
3