Comparative Studies of Silicon Dissolution in Molten Aluminum Under Different Flow Conditions, Part I: Single-Phase Flow

Abstract

This manuscript presents research work related to the assimilation of Silicon (Si) in molten Aluminum (Al) under natural and forced convection conditions. The effects of impurity levels of solid Si, Al bath temperature, and fluid flow conditions were investigated. It was found that a polycrystalline metallurgical grade Si (MGSi) with higher levels of impurities dissolved more slowly than high purity polycrystalline MGSi, which showed a similar dissolution rate to monocrystalline electronic grade Si. For high-purity Si cylinders, the experimental data under natural convection conditions exhibit good agreement with a correlation for vertical cylinders: Sh ¼ ð0:11to 0:129ÞðGr m ScÞ 1=3 : Under forced convection conditions, by rotating the molten Al, the mass transfer rate increased at higher liquid velocities, implying that the dissolution process is controlled by liquid phase diffusion. When the forced convection prevails, the experimental data are well predicted by a correlation for vertical cylinders in cross flow:1þð0:4=ScÞ 2=3