Washington Mills Electro Minerals Co., headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York, USA, is one of the largest producers of silicon carbide (SiC) in the world. It has a production capacity of some 60,000 tpa of crude SiC, which is spread between its plants in Orkanger, Norway, and Hennepin, USA.
The company manufactures SiC through the traditional batch Acheson furnace process as well as large furnace technology. Washington Mills believes that by operating both technologies, it has greater flexibility in its crude production, but also deeper technical expertise.
Washington Mills is part-way through a 10,000 tpa crude capacity expansion at its Hennepin plant, which the company initiated in 2007 (see IM July ’07, p.6).
Anne Williams, marketing manager at Washington Mills, said of the facility: “Our Hennepin plant was designed for the large furnace technology that collects and cleans the off-gases from the silicon carbide manufacturing process.”
“We made a significant...