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Old 21st September 2019, 06:10 PM   #11
Bob A
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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I thought this information on production of silicon carbide was of interest.

The simplest process to manufacture silicon carbide is to combine silica sand and carbon in an Acheson graphite electric resistance furnace at a high temperature, between 1,600 °C (2,910 °F) and 2,500 °C (4,530 °F). Fine SiO2 particles in plant material (e.g. rice husks) can be converted to SiC by heating in the excess carbon from the organic material.*

Sand would obviously melt into a glass at the temperatures involved in the wootz process.

In light of above posts, I may be merely belaboring the obvious here. Nonetheless, the reference to plant material in the Wikipedia entry discussing silicon carbide was interesting.


*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_carbide
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