Kinetic modelling of the reduction of SiCl4 in an arc heater for the production of silicon

The conversion of SiCl4 into Si has been achieved from reduction by a hydrogen plasma produced in an arc heater. As the results (conversion yield about 60%) are far from chemical equilibrium predictions, a kinetic model is proposed using the few kinetic data available in the literature and a temperature history of the reactants deduced from measurements of the temperatures and velocities of the flowing chemical mixture.