Application of a Waste Carbon Material as the Carbonaceous Reductant During Silicon Production

It is important to study the application of alternative carbon reductants for industrial silicon smelting to reduce consumption of carbonaceous reducing agents, electricity, and CO₂ emissions during silicon production. In this study, an industrial experiment was carried out in an 8 MVA submerged arc furnace using waste carbon material in place of approximately 20% partial reducing agents. The system was analyzed for silicon yield, power consumption, overall energy efficiency, CO₂ emissions, and the utilization rate of carbonaceous materials. The system improved the efficiency of carbonaceous materials and decreased power consumption using alternative carbon reductants. The results have showed that use of waste carbon materials reduced carbon emissions per ton silicon by more than 19.14% and specific CO₂ emissions decreased to 0.865 t.