HPQ Silicon Inc.’s final test underway prior to material processing

MONTREAL — HPQ Silicon Inc., a silicon solutions and technology development company, says that technology provider PyroGenesis Canada Inc. has started the final GEN3 PUREVAP(TM) Quartz Reduction Reactor (QRR) high-temperature dynamic test.

This is the last assessment step, after which feedstock will be fed into the system, so that process improvement tests can begin. The seventy-two (72) hours non-stop duration test began on Tuesday, October 25, 2022.

The GEN3 PUREVAP(TM) QRR Pilot is a prototype that operates under harsh conditions such as extremely high temperatures (> 2,000 C) and under vacuum.

The ongoing high-temperature dynamic blank test ( 1,850 C) aims to confirm that all the Pilot Plant compounds can operate within key design parameters. After the dynamic blank test, the Pilot Plant will be cooled down to allow the completion of a visual inspection of all important components of the reactor. Once the inspection is completed, the Pilot Plant will be ready to receive feedstock material.

The goal of the QRR Pilot plant program is to operate the system 24/7 for the time required to collect all the information necessary to advance to the next phase, building commercial sized GEN4 PUREVAPTM QRR systems.

“Silicon manufacturing still relies on the same expensive, high carbon emissions and energy intensive conventional process developed back in the 1890s. With our shareholders’ support, the time when HPQ disrupts this status quo is almost here. Getting the project this far has been a technical and financial challenge, but seeing the machine turned on, made all the effort worthwhile,” said Mr. Bernard Tourillon, President and CEO of HPQ Silicon Inc.