Editing Openai/67d9ce0c-64a4-8006-9fa5-0272ee2e5770 (section)

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* Silicon Furnace Temperature: Silicon production requires heating to about 2000°C.
* Energy Required to Heat Sand: This involves raising the temperature of the sand (SiO₂) and its chemical reduction with carbon (C).

The energy required to produce silicon from silica (sand) is:
* Latent Heat of Fusion for Silicon: Approximately 1.8 MJ/kg.
* Energy for Chemical Reduction: Estimated around 12-14 MWh per ton of silicon produced.

====== Assume you produce 1 ton of silicon per day: ======
* Energy Saved: Using the solar heat can save a portion of the energy required to reach 2000°C.
* Replacement Energy Cost: If electricity costs $0.05 per kWh (typical for industrial use), the cost saving is directly proportional to the energy saved.

Using the hot air to preheat the furnace, we reduce the required energy:

Energy saved=768 MWh/day\text{Energy saved} = 768 \, \text{MWh/day}Energy saved=768MWh/day

For a furnace requiring 12 MWh/ton of silicon:

Number of tons of silicon processed with solar heat=768 MWh/day12 MWh/ton≈64 tons/day\text{Number of tons of silicon processed with solar heat} = \frac{768 \, \text{MWh/day}}{12 \, \text{MWh/ton}} \approx 64 \, \text{tons/day}Number of tons of silicon processed with solar heat=12MWh/ton768MWh/day≈64tons/day

If we consider the cost of conventional energy:

Cost savings=768,000 kWh/day×$0.05/kWh=$38,400 per day\text{Cost savings} = 768,000 \, \text{kWh/day} \times \$0.05/\text{kWh} = \$38,400 \, \text{per day}Cost savings=768,000kWh/day×$0.05/kWh=$38,400per day