Effect of K2CO3 as an Additive Agent on the Carbothermic Reduction Process of Silicon Production

Abstract

The effect of K2CO3 as an additive agent in the carbothermic reduction process of silicon production is investigated in this study. Using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) in argon atmosphere, different proportions of petroleum coke (PC) and pomelo peel (PP) are used as the carbonaceous reducing agent. Findings show that the additive displays catalytic activities for reductant composition of PC and PP in solid state under high temperature. The maximum mass loss rate of samples with additive is found to increase by 13.7% in the same conditions, compared to samples without the additive. In addition, a homogenous model (HM) is studied as a kinetic model using the Coats-Redfern method to observe and determine the kinetic parameters of all samples. High correlation coefficient values for the pyrolysis stages (R2 > 0.99) and the carbothermic reduction stage of silicon dioxide (R2 > 0.98) are obtained for all samples, illustrating that the kinetic model is applicable to this reaction process. According to findings in this study, the additive K2CO3 is determined to positively impact reaction activity, speeding up the rate of pyrolytic reaction and the carbothermic reduction of silica.