Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ICARUS (Innovative eco-efficient processing and refining routes for secondary raw materials from silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing for accelerated utilisation in high-end markets)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-12-01 do 2024-05-31
Production of PV modules generates large resource flows which currently end up as waste. These are silicon-kerf from wafer sawing, graphite and silica from silicon ingot production. ICARUS aims at turning these wastes into a secondary raw material. Utilising the circular potential, 10 Mt of silicon, 1.2 Mt of silica and 0.6 Mt of graphite could be unlocked by 2050 as secondary raw materials. Silicon metal is classified as a CRM, due to its importance/criticality for EU industries including solar PV and microelectronics. Silicon metal is mostly produced in China (~ 65%) and cannot be substituted by another element, yet its recycling is very low in the current ingot and wafering process. The ambition of ICARUS is to demonstrate industrial scale technologies for silicon recycling from silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing. This demonstration will support the creation of a circular economy for silicon in Europe.
ResiTec operates a pilot site in South-Norway where it collects and processes these wastes and delivers it for final applications or for further refining. ROSI scales up silicon waste treatment capacity in France to improve the quality of their granular silicon products for photovoltaic applications. In Middle Norway, Northern Silicon is setting up an industrial pilot for silicon production by substituting primary through secondary raw materials from the projects eco-system. The German LuxChemtech is designing a chemical reactor to turn silicon waste into hydrogen and silicates. ICARUS scales up technological solutions for recovery and refining of silicon kerf, graphite and silica waste products to industrial prototypes to turn it into sustainable secondary raw materials.
The specific objectives are set to recover more than 95% of high value material from ingots and wafers manufacturing and to scale up modular solutions to process, recycle and refine these waste products into valuable raw materials. Through industrial symbiosis the use of these secondary raw materials will be demonstrated in lithium-ion batteries, for silicon feedstock production for the PV industry, as raw material in silicon-aluminium alloys and silicon carbide production, and for thermoelectric devices. Further ICARUS aims to secure the upstream processing of silicon to wafers to foster European growth on its downstream value chains. The main deliverable will be a set of technological solutions, easy scalable due to its modularity, for the recovery and controlled refining of each of these three waste products, turning it into precious secondary raw materials and their subsequent utilisation in different high-end applications. The main technologies under investigations are linked to the four industrial pilot demonstrators in the project and the subsequent application and demonstration of produced secondary raw materials applied in final products. Technologies developed in the project focus on the recovery, processing and refining of silicon kerf, graphite and silica waste products from ingot and wafer manufacturing and their potential application into final products.
ResiTec operates a pilot site in South-Norway where it collects and processes these wastes and delivers it for final applications or for further refining. ROSI scales up silicon waste treatment capacity in France to improve the quality of their granular silicon products for photovoltaic applications. In Middle Norway, Northern Silicon is setting up an industrial pilot for silicon production by substituting primary through secondary raw materials from the projects eco-system. The German LuxChemtech is designing a chemical reactor to turn silicon waste into hydrogen and silicates. ICARUS scales up technological solutions for recovery and refining of silicon kerf, graphite and silica waste products to industrial prototypes to turn it into sustainable secondary raw materials.
The specific objectives are set to recover more than 95% of high value material from ingots and wafers manufacturing and to scale up modular solutions to process, recycle and refine these waste products into valuable raw materials. Through industrial symbiosis the use of these secondary raw materials will be demonstrated in lithium-ion batteries, for silicon feedstock production for the PV industry, as raw material in silicon-aluminium alloys and silicon carbide production, and for thermoelectric devices. Further ICARUS aims to secure the upstream processing of silicon to wafers to foster European growth on its downstream value chains. The main deliverable will be a set of technological solutions, easy scalable due to its modularity, for the recovery and controlled refining of each of these three waste products, turning it into precious secondary raw materials and their subsequent utilisation in different high-end applications. The main technologies under investigations are linked to the four industrial pilot demonstrators in the project and the subsequent application and demonstration of produced secondary raw materials applied in final products. Technologies developed in the project focus on the recovery, processing and refining of silicon kerf, graphite and silica waste products from ingot and wafer manufacturing and their potential application into final products.
All 3 waste products, Si-kerf from wafer sawing, graphite from crystallisation furnaces, and silica from melting containers, are recovered with a rate >95%. A continuous drying equipment has been successfully commissioned and tested at RESITEC (pilot A) as an alternative to the current batch drying process for silicon kerf filter cake, yielding moisture levels < 1 wt% with capacity ranging 876-2600 t/y, removing particularly aluminium, nickel and iron impurities. 4 pilot campaigns at SINTEF were conducted in the submerged arc furnace (SAF) with capacity of 250 t/y converting Si-kerf waste in the form of briquettes, silica waste in the form of self-reducing briquettes and in the form of lumps into metallurgical grade silicon. The produced silicon has a purity and characteristics close to the metallurgical grade silicon, commercial traded commodity “metal silicon #553”, that has a current market value of 1585 USD/metric tons (ex. VAT). Thus, the material could directly enter the metallurgical and chemical route (Siemens process) to be further processed into solar-grade and electronic grade polysilicon, respectively. A combined system, based on powder feeding, melting, solidification, and granulation has been developed and commissioned at ROSI. The powder feeding unit has a capacity of 500 t/y, the melting and granulation unit a capacity of 50 t/y. The granulation unit includes the continuous production of liquid silicon droplets thanks to a silicon-specific drip nozzle design. Production of recycled silicon from kerf at a flow rate of 1 kg/h has been demonstrated, offering 4N purity level and a drastic reduction in C and O concentration (respectively 110 and 15 ppm wt.).
A chemical reactor converting Si-kerf and other silicon waste types with a capacity of 87 t/y was successfully commissioned at LUX producing silica (waterglass) and green hydrogen with suitable properties entering different market applications. Besides Si-kerf, alternative sources from EOL-PV and the semiconductor industry are also considered to be valuable waste sources. For every kg of cell scrap, 11 grams of silver can be recovered, with a current value of around €9!
A chemical reactor converting Si-kerf and other silicon waste types with a capacity of 87 t/y was successfully commissioned at LUX producing silica (waterglass) and green hydrogen with suitable properties entering different market applications. Besides Si-kerf, alternative sources from EOL-PV and the semiconductor industry are also considered to be valuable waste sources. For every kg of cell scrap, 11 grams of silver can be recovered, with a current value of around €9!
ICARUS contributes to know-how on upstream silicon kerf recycling through chemical free cleaning, reduction of silicon kerf contamination through process adaption in wafer sawing. Further it provides different solutions to limit oxidation, removal of impurities and post-treatment for agglomeration of recycled silicon. Besides silicon kerf, technological solutions for the recovery of silica crucible and graphite waste are provided. Technology for revalorisation of silicon kerf through chemical transformation into full value industrial commodities, green hydrogen, silica and silicate are provided as well. Reuse potential of recovered secondary raw materials is demonstrated for silicon production, for aluminium-silicon alloys, anodes for LIB batteries, for production of SiC fines, for thermoelectric modules/generators and finally reintroducing graphite back into its production value chain. The direct contribution of ICARUS to economic impacts will be demonstrated at the level of the four industrial pilots. The joint triggered investments by the four industrial pilots are expected to reach 14 M€ by 2027, with potential financial returns (ROI) of 10.4 M€ and 53 jobs directly created. Currently the proportion of PV jobs in EU is higher downstream (engineering, installation, O&M) than upstream, so a direct impact from ICARUS will be to generate direct and indirect jobs and value creation in the upstream segments of the PV value chain so that indirect impacts can also be generated downwards the value chain.
Globally, total available silicon waste in 2022 was at around 160.000 t silicon. The combined annual treatment capacity of the four industrial pilots targeted by 2024 is at 5800 t. 5800 t annually treated silicon could be supplied for different industrial applications in EU. In addition to the direct market value of silicon, a number of downstream industrial activities in EU rely on this raw material. ICARUS will directly address EIP raw materials action area n° I.4: Processing and refining of raw materials, in particular the recycling and refining of silicon kerf in the upstream of the PV value chain.
Globally, total available silicon waste in 2022 was at around 160.000 t silicon. The combined annual treatment capacity of the four industrial pilots targeted by 2024 is at 5800 t. 5800 t annually treated silicon could be supplied for different industrial applications in EU. In addition to the direct market value of silicon, a number of downstream industrial activities in EU rely on this raw material. ICARUS will directly address EIP raw materials action area n° I.4: Processing and refining of raw materials, in particular the recycling and refining of silicon kerf in the upstream of the PV value chain.