Evaporation Removal of Boron in Molten Silicon Using Reactive Fluxes

In order to optimize the B removal during slag-refining process for solar-grade silicon production, a new process for the removal of B in molten Si was proposed based on the principle of oxidized chlorination and evaporation. B can be generated and evaporated in the form of B-containing gas (BOCl) from molten Si using CaO–SiO2–CaCl2 slag system. Compared with the binary systems of CaO–CaCl2 and SiO2–CaCl2 slag, the ternary slag system CaO–SiO2–CaCl2 showed a better potential (90 pct) for B removal at 1723 K for 2 h. Moreover, the diffusion coefficient (D) of B in the slag was also determined using tube-molten pool method. Through this, it was found that the rate-limiting step of B-removal in the slag refining process is controlled by B transfer in the slag interface and surface.