MazerRR wrote: Despite the fluctuation in HPQ SP recently, the vision is still the same and in fact if anything PUREVAP plans look to have been accelerated recently as Pyrogenesis indicated they are putting extra focus on HPQ & the PUREVAP development.
This is just my opinion based on the DD I’ve done, but I believe in both PYR & HPQ management’s confidence to succeed in scaling the PUREVAP process, both the PUREVAP Quartz Reduction Reactor (QRR) and PUREVAP Nano-Silicon Reactor (NSiR), and agree with Pyrogenesis’ CEO that PUREVAP results to date have significantly de-risked the PUREVAP process. The fact that Pyrogenesis only puts time into projects they strongly believe will succeed commerically, and that Peter has called the PUREVAP economic opportunities ‘intoxicating’, are strong signals from the party building the technology that things are looking great.
They’re close now to starting up the Gen3 QRR Pilot plant (50 ton/year) and proving the commercial scalability, and the Gen1 NSiR is also close to start-up (check HPQ’s Aug 7 twitter post
https://twitter.com/HPQ_Silicon?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor). The Gen1 NSiR is listed as having a production rate of 30kg/month which is more than enough to provide samples for many battery manufacturers / advanced material developers, and they could even sell the powders if they wanted (current silicon nanopowder cost is thousands of $/kg up to $30000/kg!)
HPQ management has hinted that the PUREVAP process is estimated to be able to make silicon Nanopowders/Nanowires at a production cost cheaper by far than what the market is expecting (meaning far less than $30/kg; my guess is around 10$/kg or less - there are of course some competitors in this field, but they all look to have far more expensive processes for scaling production of silicon nanomaterial), and are confident they can hit the particle size of < 150nm at which the silicon swelling and cracking is resolved. HPQ has a whole playing field of Silicon anode and advanced materials developers they could sell this material to, and already have at least two NDAs, one with a solid state li-ion battery manufacturer and another with an Advanced materials developer (and possibly a few others that Bernard hinted at in Agoracom interviews but is not at liberty to disclose). Silicon is poised to replace graphite as the Li-ion battery anode material of choice, as it provides huge benefits such as 20-40% gain in the batteries' energy density, higher storage capacity, faster charging, etc.
HPQ has also stated they expect to cheaply produce silicon metal of varying purity coming from the PUREVAP QRR; from 1N (98.5%-99%) to 4N+ (99.99%+) silicon material, which includes the 4N+ Si that Apollon will upgrade via UMG process to 6N+ Solar grade Si (SoG-Si).
Silicon Production costs (estimate, to be firmed up during Gen3 pilot plant):
(
https://hpqsilicon.com/presentation/innovative-silicon-solutions-june-2020/ Look at slide 12 and you’ll see the PUREVAP estimated operating cost
to produce up to 4N Silicon metal (99.99% Si) (~$1.20 USD/kg) vs the average cost for production outside China of Metallurgical grade (1N) silicon (~$1.60 USD/kg & I’m guessing around $1.40 USD/kg for Chinese); chemical grade (2N+) sells for ~ 5-20% more (couldn't find production cost), and battery grade (3N-4N) silicon metal (not nanopowders, just silicon metal purity) is probably quite a bit more than that, but there are no global standards or prices for 3N-4N Silicon metal that I can find as the common production method for Silicon metal (Carbothermic process) only goes up to 99.5% Si.
On their website, HPQ says they are focusing on Silicon Metal (Si) materials needed for the next generations of Li-ion batteries, silicones, and aluminum alloys. Those are included below, along with some other links I found:
Some Uses of Silicon metal (1N-4N): Metallurgical grade (1N) silicon 553 grade (98.5%+ Si):
- Additive for aluminum alloys (heavily used in automotive industry, a Tesla's aluminum alloy chassis is approx. 10% Si)
Chemical grade (2N) silicon 441,421,411,3303,2202 grade (99%+ Si):
- Feedstream to electronic and solar grade Silicon production
- Feedstream to making fumed silica, silanes, and silicone polymers (rubbers,greases,sealants,lubricants,silicon-based oils etc)
High purity silicon (3N-4N+) (99.9% – 99.99% Si):
Bernard has called the PUREVAP QRR their ‘ace in the hole’, because it is the key to everything they are working on; regardless of what happens in the battery space, the PUREVAP QRR if successful will provide cheap & high purity Silicon metal which has many more applications than just feedstock for silicon nanomaterials & feedstock for Apollon to upgrade to Solar-grade Si UMG (these two are just the biggest value proposition markets right now – the battery space especially so!! which is why they are now focusing on it). HPQ truly is working towards becoming a speciality silicon manufacturer and the PUREVAP gives them a great technology platform to do so.