A Comparative Study of Unbalanced Production Lines Using Simulation Modeling: A Case Study for Solar Silicon Manufacturing

In the solar silicon manufacturing industry, the production time for crystal growth is ten times longer than at other workstations. The pre-processing time at the ingot-cutting station causes work-in-process (WIP) accumulation and an excessively long cycle time. This study aimed to find the most effective production system for reducing WIP accumulation and shortening the cycle time. The proposed approach considered pull production systems, and the response surface methodology was adopted for performance optimization. A simulation-based optimization technique was used for determining the optimal pull production system. The comparison between the results of various simulated pull production systems and those of the existing solar silicon manufacturing system showed that a hybrid production system in which a kanban station was installed before the bottleneck station with a CONWIP system incorporated for the rest of the production line could reduce the WIP volume by 26% and shorten the cycle time by 16% under the same throughput conditions.

On the relationship between fundamental science and contemporary applied research in the field of high-rate laser Nanowhiskerography

In practice, in various areas of life, there is often a need to use materials that have mutually exclusive requirements. Therefore, the study of the issues related to manufacturing materials in certain states for certain technical applications, and methods of controlling structurally sensitive properties to obtain specified effects, is quite relevant today. A new effect was discovered, namely, the rapid growth of amorphous and composite materials in the form of “coherent” nanowhiskers using laser-induced plasma at temperatures exceeding 4,000oC and high pressures up to 100 thousand atmospheres at a rate reaching 80-100 m/s. This method of growing whiskers is based on fundamental studies of pulsed laser radiation and predictions of Nobel Prize laureates – Ch.H. Townes, A.M. Prokhorov (splitting of a laser beam of above-threshold power) and G.A. Askaryan (effects of self-focusing of light in the condensed state of matter, and sublimation evaporation). The authors show possible practical applications of this method, such as protection of securities, banknotes, and plastic cards, as well as production of a new type of silicon batteries, automotive catalysts, and solar silicon batteries.

PRODUCTION OF SYNTHETIC WOLLASTONITE BASED ON PHOSPHORIC SLAG AND AMORPHOUS SILICA PRODUCED BY "SOLAR" SILICON

В статье приведены результаты исследований по получению синтетического волластонита на основе фосфорного шлаке и аморфного кремнезема от производства солнечного кремния. Установлено, что корректировка электротермофосфорного шлака аморфным кремнеземом от производства «солнечного» кремния облегчает процесс волластонитообразования, смещая его в область более низких температур 800-950оС и минимизирует количество примесных фаз при температурах 1000-1050оС устойчивого существования игольчатого волластонита. The article presents the results of research on the production of synthetic wollastonite based on phosphoric slag and amorphous silica from the production of solar silicon. It is established that the correction of electrothermophosphoric slag with amorphous silica from the production of "solar" silicon facilitates the process of wollastonite formation, shifting it to the region of lower temperatures of 800-950oC and minimizes the number of impurity phases at temperatures of 1000-1050oC for the stable existence of needle wollastonite.