Sustainability
Environmental Assessment of Aluminothermic Silicon
Elisa Pastor-Vallés, Alejandro Abadías Llamas, Johan Berg Pettersen
Abstract
A lifecycle assessment examines silicon production using recycled aluminum residues, identifying potential climate benefits and environmental trade-offs.
Environmental Assessment of Aluminothermic Silicon
Conventional silicon production relies on carbothermic reduction, generating direct CO₂ emissions from carbon-based reductants.
Research involving NTNU examines aluminothermic reduction using secondary aluminum residues as an alternative pathway for silicon production.
A prospective lifecycle assessment identified potential reductions of up to 80% in climate-change impact and cumulative energy demand under selected process scenarios. However, the environmental outcome depends on aluminum sourcing, material recovery, process integration, and other lifecycle factors.
Original publication: Pastor-Vallés, E., Abadías Llamas, A., & Berg Pettersen, J. (2025). Carbon-Neutral Silicon via Aluminothermic Reduction? Exploring Industrial Symbiosis through Life Cycle Assessment. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c04666
Independent academic research. Presented by SilexTech for technical reference; results are not SilexTech performance claims.
