Specialists at IP Ulke in Turkmenistan synthesized silicon carbide. To carry out the unique experiment they used quartz sand and artificial graphite, which had been previously produced by the same company. As Andrei Kurbatov, the head of IP Ulke, says, this event was preceded by many years of theoretical preparation, as well as practical activities that lasted four years. The creative group of the individual enterprise carried out a series of researches the key task of which was to obtain crystalline silicon carbide from raw materials extracted from the Turkmen mines. Experimental batches of crystals of this synthetic product were obtained in special units assembled at the Ulke production base by exposing the raw material to temperatures exceeding 2000оС.
High-temperature heating of specially prepared charge in an experimental furnace using the technology developed by American scientist E. Acheson at the end of the last century before last is still used in many countries to produce silicon carbide.
State Concern "Turkmengeologiya" carried out laboratory testing of samples extracted from the furnace. The results show that according to the chemical composition, physical parameters and X-ray analysis, they fully correspond to crystalline silicon carbide (carborundum). This material is a synthesized substitute for mussanite, a unique material rarely found in nature, both in various kimberlite and corundum deposits and in the composition of meteorites found on Earth.
As an inert chemical substance, carborundum is almost unaffected by most acids, and its high temperature resistance allows the material to be used for the manufacture of refractories and parts of high-temperature heating furnaces.
Synthetic silicon carbide and products made of it are used for the production of abrasive tools and multigrain grinding powders used in dentistry. High reduction properties make carborundum a popular material in metallurgy. It is also actively used for creation of semiconductors and power electronics. For example, in creation of high-power LEDs.
Experts of IP Ulke believe that the availability of all components for the synthesis of carborundum in the territory of Turkmenistan - carbon, quartz sand and electricity, will allow the country to form an export-oriented production of this product. This is fully in line with the initiatives of Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to expand the export potential of the country.
Source and photo: turkmenistan.gov.tm
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