"ULKE" - A PLATFORM FOR EXPERIMENTS AND BUSINESS

Specialists of the individual enterprise "Ulke" completed a unique experiment to obtain a synthetic product - silicon carbide. For the synthesis, artificial graphite, previously manufactured by entrepreneurs, and quartz sand from local deposits were used.

Andrey Kurbatov, director of IE "Ulke" says:- Many years of theoretical training and more than four years of practical activity were required for the authors of the project to prepare the experiment. The creative group of the individual enterprise "Ulke" conducted a whole series of studies, the main purpose of which was to obtain experimentally crystalline silicon carbide from local raw materials. For this purpose, special installations were assembled at the Ulke production base, in which, at temperatures of more than two thousand degrees, it was possible to obtain experimental batches of silicon carbide crystals.

Silicon carbide was obtained in an experimental furnace by heating a specially prepared charge to high temperatures. This technology, developed by E. Acheson (USA) at the end of the nineteenth century, is still used today in many countries of the world.

According to laboratory measurements carried out at the Main Production Laboratory of the State Concern "Turkmengeologiya", the samples of materials taken from the furnace in terms of their physical parameters, chemical composition, and X-ray diffraction analysis fully correspond to crystalline silicon carbide. Silicon carbide (carborundum) is a synthetic substitute for the rare mineral moissanite, which is found in nature only in corundum and kimberlite deposits, and even less often in meteorites that fell to Earth from space.

Silicon carbide is a very inert chemical substance, practically does not interact with most acids. The high thermal stability of silicon carbide makes it suitable for making refractories, parts of equipment for high-temperature furnaces.

The modern application of artificial silicon carbide and products based on it is extremely diverse. These are, first of all, a variety of abrasive tools, grinding powders of various grain sizes.

Due to its high reducing properties, silicon carbide is widely used in the metallurgical industry.

Silicon carbide finds an important application in dentistry; tools with a working part made of silicon carbide with varying degrees of grit filling are used in clinical and laboratory practice in the form of polishing abrasives for leveling and grinding dental structures.

And finally, a real boom in the use of silicon carbide in semiconductors and power electronics, where high thermal conductivity, high breakdown voltage and high electric current density make it a promising material for high-power devices, including the creation of super-power LEDs.

Specialists of IP "ULKE" analyzed the experimental data: the chemical composition of the feedstock, the specific consumption of electricity for synthesis, energy losses in the conversion process, the efficiency of the installation, the operating temperature in the furnace and performed the corresponding calculations. Given that the territory of Turkmenistan abounds in natural resources, the authors of the experiment prepared a technical and commercial proposal, in which they substantiated the possibility of creating an export-oriented production of artificial silicon carbide in Turkmenistan.

As a raw material base, innovative for the Turkmen economy, it is proposed to use local raw materials - carbon, quartz sand and electricity, which will significantly reduce the costs of energy-intensive production and ensure its efficient use, as well as added value.

Specialists of IP "Ulke" believe that the organization of innovative production will contribute to the implementation of large-scale tasks initiated by the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to develop the production of export-oriented products and strengthen the production base of processing industries that can expand the country's export opportunities.