Investigation of the hydrochlorination of SiCl4

A research and development program on the hydrochlorination of silicon tetrachloride and metallurgical grade (m.g.) silicon metal to trichlorosilane was carried out as scheduled. Effects of pressure and temperature on this reaction are reported. The presence of HCl in the reaction product mixture was successfully analyzed. Approximately 0.1% to 0.5% HCl based on total chlorosilanes were produced by the hydrochlorination reaction. Experiments on the corrosion study were carried out to evaluate a variety of metals and alloys as the material of construction for the hydrochlorination reactor. Material includes carbon steel, nickel, copper, Alloy 400 (Monel), stainless steel (Type 304), Incoloy 800H and Hastelloy B-2. The corrosion test was carried out at reaction temperature of 500 C, pressure of 300 psig and H2/SiCl4 feed ratio of 2.0 for a total of 87 hours. Results of the corrosion test show that all the test samples achieved a weigh gain.