Dynamic behavior of a multi-tasking reactive distillation column for production of silane, dichlorosilane and monochlorosilane

Abstract Solar cell manufacturing is based on solar grade silicon which can be obtained using silane as precursor. Silane is produced by redistribution reactions of trichlorosilane. The aim of the present work is to study the control properties of a multitasking reactive distillation column to produce silane, dichlorosilane and monochlorosilane. Control adjustment was defined in such way that the column may work in multitasking mode producing the three interest components in high purity. Several control strategies were studied to define the best dynamic performance which allow to produce those three components within the same column. In order to observe the dynamic behavior of the multitasking reactive distillation column, this system was tested under various control strategies: temperature, composition and cascade (temperature/composition), having as target to keep silanes purity in 99.5%mol. The results indicated that is possible to obtain a conceptual design of a single reactive distillation column which would be able to produce all products. The proposed multitasking column avoids all hurdles involved in the traditional way to produce and purify all those three components. It was observed those evaluated control structures can stabilize the system against tested disturbances, even the simplest temperature control structure.

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