Dear Flyby,
No apologies necessary. You are not pushy at all. I like an inquisitive mind.
A quick update:
Technically, it seems that this conversion can be done. So far we found a reference paper referring to this conversion with silicon micro-powders using induction plasma. Conversion rate was 70.4% for 45 microns particles. The resulting product was not pure SiC, but a mixture of Si and SiC (73.9% SiC).
From this vantage point we still do not see the advantage of the proposed process for two main reasons:
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Commercial viability: why would you take high value nano silicon and convert it to lower value silicon carbide?, and
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Industrial applicability: The hydrogen volumes required for industrial applications are orders of magnitudes higher than what you could produce from converting all the available nanosilicon (which is highly sought after in the battery market).
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We will continue to explore this avenue of thinking and will update you if we come upon anything.
Thanks again,
Peter