• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.274-280
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• 2016

In this study, it was to develop a chemical method that can recycle the cutting oil which accounts for about 25% of the cost of the process among containing materials of silicon waste sludge generated in the process for producing a solar cell wafer. The 7 types of reagents have been used, including acetone, HCl, NaOH, KOH, $Na_2CO_3$, HF, $CH_2Cl_2$, etc. for this experiment. And It was carried out at a speed of 3000 rpm for 60 minutes centrifugation after performing a reaction with a waste sludge at various concentrations. As a result, the best reagents and conditions for separating the solid such as a silicon powder and a metal powder and liquid cutting oil were identified as 0.3 N NaOH. It is found to be pH 6.05 in a post-processing recycled cutting oil with 0.3 N NaOH after reaction of waste sludge and 0.1 N HCl which is effective to remove metal powder in order to adjust the pH to suit the properties of the weak acid is a commercially available cutting oil and it showed excellent turbidity than when applied to sludge with 0.3 N NaOH alone. The results of FT-IR analysis which can compare the properties of the commercially available cutting oil shows it has a possibility of recycling oil. The cutting oil recovery rate obtained through the experiment was found to be 86.9%.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.19-29
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• 2019

Recently, it is increasing a amount of installized solar-cell rapidly, and waste Solar cell module are generated in according to the reduction of efficiency largely. Therefore, it is concerned at the environmental problems and recycling of valuable materials, greatly. The treatment processes of end-of-life photovoltaic modules are composed the disassembly of Aluminum frames, separation of Tempered glass, removal of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate and recovery of valuable Metals. For the efficient recycling, we are considered to the treatment technology seriously. And we are proposed on the general opinions according to the developing technology, EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) problems and promotion plans for the activation of recycling industry.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.51-57
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• 2010

As a recycling of Si sludge from Si wafer process, a Si-SiC-CuO-C composite material was synthesized and investigated as an anode material for lithium batteries. The Si sludge consisted of Si, SiC, machine oil, and metallic impurities. The oil and metal impurities was removed by organic washing, magnetic separation, and acid washing. The Si-SiC-CuO-C composite from the recovered Si-SiC mixture was prepared by high-energy mechanical milling. According to the electrochemical tests such as charge-discharge capacity and cycling behavior, it showed the improved cycle performance. The SiC and CuO-related phases were presumed to restrain the volume expansion of the anode and Fe, however, should be removed below 10 ppm prior to synthesis of the composite because it caused the capacity loss of the active material itself.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.203-209
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• 2022

An environmental evaluation was conducted by employing LCA methodology for a mechanical seal manufacturing process that uses recycled silicon recovered from end-of-cycle PV modules. The recycled silicon was purified and reacted with carbon to synthesize β-SiC particles. Then the particles underwent compression molding, calcination and heat treatment to produce a product. Field data were collected and the potential environmental impacts of each stage were calculated using the LCI DB of the Ministry of Environment. The assessment was based on 6 categories, which were abiotic resource depletion, acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone depletion and photochemical oxidant creation. The environmental impacts by category were 45 kg CO₂ for global warming and 2.23 kg C₂H₄ for photochemical oxide creation, and the overall environmental impact by photochemical oxide creation, resource depletion and global warming had a high contribution of 98.7% based on weighted analysis. The wet process of fine grinding and mixing the raw silicon and carbon, and SiC granulation were major factors that caused the environmental impacts. These impacts need to be reduced by converting to a dry process and using a system to recover and reuse the solvent emitted to the atmosphere. It was analyzed that the environmental impacts of resource depletion and global warming decreased by 53.9% and 60.7%, respectively, by recycling silicon from end-of-cycle PV modules. Weighted analysis showed that the overall environmental impact decreased by 27%, and the LCA analysis confirmed that recycling waste modules could be a major means of resource saving and realizing carbon neutrality.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.55-61
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• 2011

In order to develop economical production process from metallurgical grade silicon(MG-Si) to solar grade(SOG-Si), removal of boron by slag treatment was investigated at 1823 K using CaO-$SiO_2$ based slags. In the present study boron removal ratio in CaO-$SiO_2$ stags and $CaCO_3-SiO_2$ slags were increased to 63% and 73% respectively with slag basicity (%CaO/$%SiO_2$). However, bubbling time with Ar gas of slag and metal was not affected on removal ratio of boron. The addition of $Na_2CO_3$ to CaO-$SiO_2$ slags did not improve the removal ratio of boron from molten silicon. Boron contend was decreased from 20.6 ppm to 1.03 ppm by three times treatment using $CaCO_3-SiO_2$ slag (basicity=1.2).

• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.45-49
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• 2017

Most Waste slurry is produced in the process of silicon manufacturing for semiconductor industry, containing silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC). Waste slurry is simply stored with solidifying by cement or buried. On the other hand, it was suggested in this study that the waste slurry should be used for heating source as supplementary material in steel making process. The waste slurry was refined and pulverized, which was recycled into SiC-based sludge briquette. Chemical composition for SiC-based sludge briquette was analyzed and the feature of heating source was observed in accordance with the injection time and input amount. As a result, SiC-based sludge briquette in terms of low cost and high efficiency had an effect on increasing liquid steel temperature in steel making plants.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.25-30
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• 2003

The synthesis of SiC used for the parts of the gas turbine and the heat exchanger, was carried out. In this study, wire cutting slurry of silicon wafer and the graphite rod of spent zinc-carbon battery were applied to the starting materials for the synthesis. The powders of Si or Si+SiC were obtained from the waste material by filtration, gravity separation and magnetic separation. Graphite powder was produced by dismantling, grinding and gravity separation from spent zinc-carbon battery. The synthesis of SiC could be completed from the mixture powders of Si and C or Si+SiC and C at the condition of equivalent ratio of Si and C, atmosphere of Ar or vacuum, temperature of above 1$600^{\circ}C$ and 2 hours reactions. The purity of synthesized Si-C was above 99%.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.20-26
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• 2021

Solar grade silicon (SoG-Si) has been commercially supplied mainly from off-grade high-purity silicon manufactured for electronic-grade Si (EG-Si). Therefore, for wider application of solar cells, the development of a refining process at a considerably lower cost is required. The most cost-effective and direct approach for producing SoG-Si is to purify and upgrade metallurgical-grade Si (MG-Si). In this study, directional solidification of molten MG-Si was conducted in a high-frequency induction furnace to remove iron from molten Si. The experimental conditions and results were also discussed with respect to the effective segregation coefficient, Scheil equation, and Peclet number. The study showed that when the descent velocity of the specimen decreased, the macro segregations of impurities and ingot purities increased. These results were derived from the decrease in the effective segregation coefficient with the decrease in the rate of descent of the specimen.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.33-42
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• 2023

Metal emulsions have been studied for several decades as a method of increasing the efficiency of the steelmaking process. This study was performed using a water model, observable at room temperature, to compensate for the disadvantages of the high-temperature experiment, the results of which are difficult to observe visually. As a substitute for metal-in-slag emulsions, experiments were conducted by dropping distilled water into silicone oil and comparing the results with the results of a calculation by momentum balance equations. The descending velocity of the water droplet decreased as the diameter of the droplet and viscosity of the fluid (silicon oil) increased. To simulate the descending velocity of a water droplet in silicon oil under stirring conditions, the flow rate of the fluid (silicon oil) was measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) methods. The calculation of the descending velocity of the water droplet was in good agreement with the measured values, with and without stirring a viscous silicone oil.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.699-710
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• 2019

Electric vehicles (EVs) are spreading rapidly and many counties are promoting hybrid and fully EVs through legislation. Therefore, an increasing amount of lithium ion batteries will reach the end of their usable life and will require effective and sustainable end-of-life management plan which include landfill disposal or incineration. The current research focuses on more sustainable methods such as remanufacturing, reuse and recycling in order to prepare for future battery compositions and provide insights to the need recycling methods to be developed to handle large amounts of batteries sustainably in the near future. The two most prominent material recovery techniques are hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy which are explored and assessed on their relative effectiveness, sustainability, and feasibility. Hydrometallurgy is a superior recycling method due to high material recovery and purity, very low emissions, high prevalence of chemical reuse and implementation of environmentally sustainable compounds. Expanding recycling technologies globally should take the research and technologies pioneered by Umicore to establish a sustainable recycling program for end-of-life EVs batteries. Emerging battery technology of Telsa show the most effective designs for high performance batteries includes the use of silicon which is expected to increase capacity of batteries in the future.