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Quartz Enrichment Enabling Near-Zero Silicon Production

Project description

Sustainable metallurgical silicon production

The EU is highly dependent on external sources for critical raw materials essential to various industries. Metallurgical silicon (MG-Si) is one such material, with 80 % of it, vital for sustainability and high-tech applications, being imported from China. The EU-funded QUEEN project seeks to change this by using an underexploited resource that is abundant in the EU (quartz sand) to sustainably and efficiently produce MG-Si. The project aims to combine extraction with the use of waste materials and refinement processes to enhance environmental sustainability. Additionally, the project’s solution is designed to boost innovation in the sector and adapt the technologies for use with other materials.

Objective

The QUEEN project, with its strong consortium of participants from eight countries, addresses a significant challenge - EU's heavy reliance on external sources for critical raw materials, especially metallurgical silicon (MG-Si). Currently, over 80% of MG-Si, vital for high-tech applications and EU's sustainability ambitions, is imported mainly from China.

QUEEN aims to exploit an underutilized resource; quartz sand from European quarries, to domestically produce MG-Si in a sustainable and efficient way. The unique approach combines raw material extraction and refinement with an environmental focus, leveraging waste materials in the process. This strategy is projected to bolster EU's MG-Si production capacity, foster sector-specific innovation, and advance eco-friendly practices.

The QUEEN project's overall objective is to create an environmentally friendly process for producing metallurgical silicon (MG-Si) from quarry sands, with near-zero CO2 emissions. This transformational approach could turn any EU quartz quarry into a potential MG-Si reservoir. Moreover, the technologies developed could be adapted to other materials.

The technical objective is to devise a new mineralogical separation process based on flotation for quarry sands extraction. This objective aims to pioneer a more effective and greener alternative process for refining high-purity quartz and Potassium Feldspars. Comprising R&D and industry stakeholders from mineral separation and MG-Si refinement fields, the project plans pilot tests at TRL 7.

QUEEN aims to cover 56% of MG-Si EU demand by 2032 by recovering more than 300Mt MG-Si from sands, alongside saving about 232,000 Mt CO2 by substituting coal with cleaner materials. Like this, QUEEN aims to support the EU strategic autonomy and sustainability, mirroring its green ambitions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 067 878,75
Address
CALLE JORDI GIRONA 31
08034 Barcelona
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 067 878,75

Participants (14)

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