Silicon for the chemical and solar industry XVIII: Kristiansand, Norway, September 7–10, 2026

Forfattere

Merete Tangstad; Harry Morten Rong; Aasgeir Valderhaug ; Birger Andresen; Halvor Dalaker; Ingrid Gamst Page
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55669/oa9008

Synopsis

Silicon for Chemical and Solar Industry is a biennial, in-person conference established in 1992. The conference focuses on the interaction between research and industrial production, bringing together researchers and industry professionals to share knowledge and experience. The proceedings include contributions from research partners presenting applied research, as well as papers from industrial participants describing operational developments and production campaigns.

As in previous years, the proceedings include papers addressing the diverse applications and uses of silicon. In response to today's global challenges related to climate change and the increasing scarcity of raw materials, the proceedings also feature a growing number of papers on biogenic carbon, resource efficiency, and recycling. The publications cover a broad range of topics, including primary silicon production, silicon reactions, and raw material developments. 

Kapitler

Forfatterbiografier

Ali Abo-Hamad

is a final-year PhD candidate in Engineering Physics at Mid Sweden University. He holds a Master of Engineering Science in Chemical Engineering and has previous industrial experience in the silicon sector. His research focuses on silicon-based materials, fluorine-free porous silicon synthesis, and surface/porosity engineering for functional applications. He has also worked on carbon nanomaterials, ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and electrochemical sensor materials.

Jörg Acker

earned his Ph.D. (1999) and completed his habilitation (2004) at the Technical University of Freiberg, focusing on metal-catalyzed reactions of chloro- and methylchlorosilanes. After holding positions at Princeton University and the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research in Dresden, he became a full professor of physical chemistry at the Brandenburg University of Technology. He continues to work in various areas of silicon chemistry, although for the past 14 years his main research topics have been lithium-ion battery recycling, spectroscopy, microscopy, and chemical analytics.

Amanda Andersson Lindholm

holds a Master’s degree in Materials Science from NTNU and has worked at SINTEF since completing her studies. She works at the intersection of laboratory experimentation and data processing, focusing on high-temperature furnace operations and parameter studies related to silicon production.

Enrico Danzi

is a Chemical Engineer with a PhD in Metrology. His research addresses industrial safety and fire risk assessment. Since September 2025, he has been a researcher in the CESAR project (Centre of Excellence for Safety Research) at VSB–Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, focusing on the safety aspects of clean energy processes. His work explores the explosibility of metal powders–H2 mixtures and H2 jet-fire testing. He is involved in COST actions NERO (extreme wildfires) and REInvent (biomass valorisation) and received the 2026 RISENERGY Transnational Access grant for research on biomass–plastic pyrolysis and explosibility. He has authored more than 30 scientific papers and presented at international safety science conferences since 2014.

Gro Eide

holds an PhD in Materials Science from UiO and a MSc in Physics from NTH and has over 30 years of experience in Material product development. She joined Elkem in 1997 and has held several senior leadership roles, including R&D, Laboratory management and product development.

Owen C. Ernst

holds degrees in chemistry and physical chemistry from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. He led the “Local Growth and Structure Formation of Semiconductors” research group at the Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth. Since 2024, he serves as the research project lead for "Chemistry and Physics of Isotopically Engineered Semiconductors" at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg. In 2026, he founded the university spin-off quantum grade materials [qgm] GmbH.

Mads Fromreide

holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Santiago de Compostela. He has worked at NORCE for over a decade, mainly working on modelling towards the metallurgical industry.

Denys Gryshan

holds an M.Sc. from KTU, Kryvyi Rih. With 15+ years of experience in the ferroalloys industry. Expertise includes realization of investment projects, ore beneficiation, sensor-based sorting technologies, by-products valorization and REACH. Actively involved in innovation

Gøril Jahrsengene

has a MSc (2015) and PhD (2019) degree in Materials Science from NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2019). She is currently working in metal production and recycling in SINTEF as a research scientist, focusing on electrolysis approaches. She also specializes in carbon for metallurgical processes, including the use of bio-carbon.

Nataliya Korol

holds a PhD in chemistry from Uzhhorod National University, where she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Organic Chemistry, and is also part of the R&D team of Perechin Timber and Chemical Plant. Her research is focused on the valorisation of hardwood-derived carbonaceous materials, including the development of organic binder systems for charcoal briquettes, the chemistry of coal and charcoal fines, and the use of activated carbons as adsorbents for organic micropollutants. She has co-authored several recent publications on charcoal briquetting and adsorption, and is the presenting author of the present contribution.

Fei Li

received a Ph.D. degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2017. The main research interests include industrial silicon and silicon-based ferroalloy smelting, silicon functional materials, and solid waste recycling. Current work focuses on reaction mechanisms, process optimization, and sustainable utilization of silicon resources and industrial solid wastes.

Ingeborg Lillevik Straum

completed her Master’s degree in Materials Technology at NTNU in June 2026. Her thesis investigated the high-temperature behaviour of quartz–charcoal briquettes relevant to metallurgical silicon production and was conducted as part of the Horizon Europe QUEEN project. Her research interests include pyrometallurgy, raw material agglomeration, and sustainable production routes for silicon and ferrosilicon.

Ida Monsen

holds a master’s degree in Computational Physics. She has been working as a researcher at NORCE for about a year, mainly within the fields of metallurgy and other process industry.

Armel Perrotin

holds a MSc in Green Chemistry from the university of Poitiers (France). His master thesis was on the preparation and characterization of catalysts for aircraft air purification. He is currently working on the characterization of feedstock for additive manufacturing as part of his PhD at the Dept. of Materials Sciences and Engineering at NTNU within the SFI PhysMet (Centre for Sustainable and Competitive Metallurgical and Manufacturing Industry).

Caroline Sindland

is an Industrial PhD candidate and Research Engineer at Elkem ASA. She began her career as an apprentice in chemical analysis at Elkem, before completing an MSc in Materials Science and Engineering at NTNU. She later returned to Elkem as a Process Engineer. Since January 2025, she has been pursuing an industrial PhD on

Sigurd Johannes Slåtsve Øvrelid

has Master's degree in process metallurgy from NTNU, Norway. Worked as a trainee and metallurgist in Eramet Norway, Porsgrunn before joining Wacker in 2023. Currently working with raw materials and process support at the Holla site in Kyrksæterøra.

Jan-Otto Smith-Meyer Hoel

holds a Master’s degree in chemistry from NTH (now NTNU) and has worked within the silicon field since 1996, joining Elkem in 2003. His work has largely focused on customer processes within the polysilicon and silicones segments, using lab-scale studies to build understanding and support product development. He is also responsible for the development, construction, and maintenance of laboratory equipment and specialized test setups.

Nagarajan Somi Ganesan

is a Research Scientist at SINTEF Industry, Norway. His research focuses on silicon crystal growth, end-of-life PV recycling, silicon recovery, and circular economy strategies.

Thea Stabbforsmo

is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology working with biocarbon in silicon production as a part of FME ZeMe. She holds a MSc in chemistry from NTNU.

Marc-Olivier Victorin

is an Engineer from IMT Mines Albi (France) Graduate School of Engineering, where he graduated in 2007. He has 19 years of industrial experience, including 14 years at Elkem across different divisions and international environments. He is currently a Silicon Specialist at Elkem, based in Trondheim (NO). He is supporting polysilicon customers using Direct Chlorination (DC) and Hydrochlorination (HC) processes, focusing on product development, product qualification, and sustainable silicon solutions.

Liang Wang

Research. Dr. Wang has long experiences and active R&D activities on biomass & waste thermochemical conversion processes, the use of biobased material for low-emission metal production, and the production and utilization of biochar/biocarbon for various applications. Dr. Wang has over than 155 publications indexed in Scopus, with an h-index of 36. He has served as project manager and sub-project leader for more than 15 regional, national, EU, and international projects.

Harald Wegge

holds an M.Sc. in Process Metallurgy from NTH and has over 40 years of experience in metallurgical process development. He has worked extensively with silicon and ferrosilicon processes in industrial and pilot-scale environments. He is currently leading

Sophia Anastasia Wellman

holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Physics and Mathematics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. During the summer of 2025, she worked as a summer student at Elkem Silicon Products Development in Kristiansand, where she carried out the work presented in this paper.
During the 2025/2026 academic year, she completed both her project work and master’s thesis in collaboration with Elkem, focusing on the chemical characterization of oxide layers on silicon powders. In August 2026, she joined Elkem ASA as a Trainee, continuing the research project initiated during her summer internship.

Magnus K. Windfeldt

is a PhD candidate at the department of Materials Science and Engineering at NTNU, and he holds a MSc from the same department. He also has 5 years of research experience from SINTEF, where he worked and published in the field of industrial energy efficiency and heat recovery. His work is part of the FME Zero Emission Metal Production research centre, and aims to facilitate efficient carbon capture from future silicon production.

Book cover for Silicon for the Chemical and Solar Industry XVIII, edited by Merete Tangstad, Harry Rong, Aasgeir Valderhaug, Birger Andresen, Halvor Dalaker and Ingrid Gamst Page. The conference takes place in Kristiansand, Norway, 7–10 September 2026. The cover image shows a worker in protective clothing handling molten material in an industrial furnace.

Publisert

31 august 2026

Serier

Open Access

Kategorier

Opphavsrett 2026 Merete Tangstad

Lisens

Creative Commons License

Dette verket er lisensiert under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Detaljer om denne publikasjonen

ISBN-13 (15)

9788245064230