Inherent occupational health hazards in the production of solar grade silicon

• Published in: Process safety and environmental protection 2020-10, Vol.142, p.285-294
• Main Authors: Ramírez-Márquez, César, Villicaña-García, Esbeydi, Cansino-Loeza, Brenda, Segovia-Hernández, Juan Gabriel, Ponce-Ortega, José María
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Energy; Energy sources; Environmental hazards; Evaluation; Flammability; Fluidized bed reactors; Fluidized beds; Hazard assessment; Hazardous materials; Health hazards; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Hybrid process; Inherent occupational health hazards; Intensified FBR Union carbide process; Occupational health; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Polycrystals; Polysilicon; Renewable energy sources; Siemens process; Silicon; Solar cells; Solar energy; Solar grade silicon
• ISSN: 0957-5820; 1744-3598
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2020.05.031

•Occupational health in the production of silicon polycrystalline is evaluated.•A systematic evaluation of the Process Route Healthiness Index Methodology is used.•Approaches to upgrade occupational health problems are presented.•Key factors that influence the selection of the process are identified. Solar energy has become one of the most developed renewable energy sources in recent years. As with any energy source or product, there are health risks associated with the manufacturing of solar cells. And even though the photovoltaic industry uses far lesser amounts of toxic and flammable substances than many other industries, the use of hazardous chemicals can present occupational and environmental hazards. One of the most important aspects in the selection of new processes lies in the protection of workers’ health. Health risks can be reduced if a process is chosen properly and in preliminary phases. Since we have found that it is necessary to carry out an evaluation of the health risks to workers in the production of polycrystalline silicon for the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells, in this work we will use the Process Route Healthiness Index to quantify the health risk that each silicon production process represents (the higher the index, the higher the hazards). The polycrystalline silicon production processes evaluated with the healthiness index are: Siemens Process, Intensified Fluidized Bed Reactor Union Carbide Process, and Hybrid Process. Our results show that the Siemens Process is the healthiest process, but with the Process Route Healthiness Index values are closer to the Hybrid Process. Apart from this, a guide to the assessment of inherent occupational health hazards in SiSG production processes was also developed, which provides results alike those to the PHRI methodology.