News

What is metal silicon？

Silicon metal is a product smelted by quartz and coke in an electric heating furnace. The content of the main component silicon is about 98%, and the remaining impurities are iron, aluminum, calcium, etc.Technicians will classify the Fe, Al, and Ca elements in silicon metal into grades, making it easier to distinguish between different silicon metal purity levels.

The difference between metallurgical grade metallic silicon and chemical grade metallic silicon；

Currently, silicon metal can be divided into two categories: metallurgical grade and chemical grade. Metallurgical grade silicon metal is mainly used in the production process of steel making, casting, and aluminum products, while chemical grade silicon metal is mainly used in purification, solar photovoltaic panels, and semiconductor industries.

Metallurgical grade silicon metal can reach 98% silicon purity, while chemical grade silicon metal requires 99.99% silicon purity. Chemical grade silicon metal is higher than metallurgical grade silicon metal, both in terms of process and price.

Silicon metal 97#, 441#, 421#, and 553# are the main metallurgical grade silicon metal, while silicon metal 1101#, 2202#, and 3303# are the representative chemical agents of silicon metal.

In order to improve the grade of silicon metal more effectively, many silicon metal manufacturers will fill the furnace with oxygen during the smelting process, so that the silicon metal cools down and produces bubbles inside, which has the advantage of improving the melting rate and absorption rate of silicon metal, but the disadvantage is that the process is more complicated in the smelting process and relatively expensive in terms of price.