Recovery of silicon from silica fume

Feasibility of producing high purity silicon from amorphous silica fume, using a low temperature magnesiothermic reduction was demonstrated. Commercial silica fume containing 97.5% amorphous silica was first purified by acid leaching and roasting to remove large quantities of transition metals and carbon. The product was then reduced using magnesium as the reductant. The effect of the amount of reductant, initial temperature, and dwell time …