Solar Cells Drive Evonik Monosilane Japan's New Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Evonik Monosilane Japan Company Limited (Tokyo, Japan), a joint venture of Evonik Degussa Japan Company Limited (Tokyo) and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Tokyo), began construction on a monosilane plant in Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan, in December 2009.

The facility, located in the Shiohama district industrial area of Yokkaichi, will produce 1,000 metric tons of monosilane gas per year when completed in 2011. Construction of the $130 million plant began late last year. This is Evonik's (Essen, Germany) first monosilane plant to be constructed outside of Europe.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Tokyo), chosen as the project's developer, is a well-known name in the engineering and manufacturing of gas plants both in Japan and abroad. In July 2009, Toyo Engineering Corporation (TYO:6330) (Tokyo) was awarded the construction contract for the contract.

Monosilane, or silane, (SiH4) is a tetrahedral compound produced from powdered metallurgical-grade silcon in a two-step process. First, silicon is combined with hydrochloric acid. The resulting trichlorosilane (HSiCl3) is then boiled on a resinous bed with a catalyst, usually a metal halide such as aluminium chloride, to aid in the disproportionation into silane and silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4).

Monosilane has many industrial and medical applications, and is used to produce silicon films on thin-film silicon solar cells used in solar power plants. Japan ranks third worldwide in total solar power, behind Germany and Spain. Japan's total installed solar power has risen from 19 megawatts (MW) in 1992 to 2,149 MW in 2008.

Because of increased demand for renewable energy sources, Evonik's new plant is expected to contribute greatly to environmental technologies. The demand for monosilane gas is expected to rise considerably in the near future on the back of increased demand for solar energy.

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