Obstructing member for a fluidized bed reactor

1. A reactor for producing silicon-coated granular material by thermal decomposition of a gas containing silicon, the reactor comprising:

a vessel defining a chamber to contain a fluidized bed of particles and a freeboard region above the fluidized bed;

a plurality of particles within the chamber, wherein the particles are seed particles, silicon-coated seed particles, or a combination thereof;

an inlet positioned for delivering a silicon-bearing gas into the chamber to flow upwardly through the particles;

an inlet positioned for delivering a fluidizing gas into the chamber to flow upwardly through the particles to form a fluidized bed of particles;

an outlet for venting exhaust gas from the chamber;

a top head;

one or more internal reactor components extending downwardly from the top head and into the chamber, the internal reactor components comprising a seed nozzle, a thermocouple, a pressure tap, a particle sampling line, a gas sampling line, a gas feed line, a heater, or any combination thereof; and

an obstructing member that is positioned within the freeboard region of the chamber, that is secured to at least one of the one or more internal reactor components, and that is configured to break up a rising slug of particles in the chamber, the obstructing member comprising (a) a plurality of receiving members, each receiving member comprising a tubular wall defining a passageway dimensioned to receive an internal reactor component extending downwardly from the top head, and (b) a plurality of connecting elements connecting the receiving members, wherein the perimeter of the obstructing member defined by the connecting elements and receiving members, as viewed vertically from the top, defines an area that is from 15-60% of a horizontal cross-sectional area of the region of the chamber that contains the obstructing member, and wherein one of the plurality of connecting elements has an outer surface that is coincident with a vertical central axis of the chamber and extends radially from the vertical central axis along a plane that includes the central axis.

2. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the obstructing member comprises:

four receiving members; and

four connecting elements connecting the receiving members.

3. The reactor of claim 2 , wherein the four connecting elements are the bases and legs of a trapezoid with one of the receiving members located at each vertex of the trapezoid.

4. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein each receiving member further comprises an outwardly extending support element.

5. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of receiving members further comprises a receiving member extension, which extends along a portion of an adjacent connecting element.

6. The reactor of claim 5 , wherein each receiving member extension comprises an aperture aligned with a corresponding aperture on the adjacent connecting element.

7. The reactor of claim 6 , wherein the obstructing member further comprises a fastener received within each receiving member extension aperture and the corresponding aperture on the adjacent connecting element.

8. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the obstructing member is constructed of high-temperature stainless steel, a martensitic stainless steel, a nickel-iron-chromium alloy, an iron-chromium-nickel-molybdenum alloy, or a cobalt-based superalloy, or a combination thereof.

9. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the obstructing member is constructed of a non-contaminating material or exposed outer surfaces of the obstructing member are coated with a protective layer of a non-contaminating material.

10. The reactor of claim 9 , wherein the non-contaminating material comprises a cobalt-chromium alloy, tungsten carbide/cobalt, tungsten carbide/nickel boron, silicon carbide, or silicon nitride.

11. The reactor of claim 1 , wherein the one or more internal reactor components comprise a seed nozzle, and the obstructing member is secured to the seed nozzle.

12. An obstructing member for use in a fluidized bed reactor, the obstructing member comprising:

a plurality of receiving members, each receiving member comprising a tubular wall defining a passageway dimensioned to receive an internal reactor component located in a freeboard region of the fluidized bed reactor, wherein one or more of the plurality of receiving members further comprises a receiving member extension, which extends along a portion of an adjacent connecting element; and

a plurality of connecting elements connecting the receiving members, wherein the perimeter of the obstructing member defined by the connecting elements and receiving members, as viewed vertically from the top, is sized and shaped to occupy from 15-60% of a horizontal cross-sectional area of a freeboard region of a fluidized bed reactor reaction chamber.

13. The obstructing member of claim 12 , comprising:

four receiving members; and

four connecting elements connecting the receiving members, wherein the four connecting elements are the bases and legs of a trapezoid with one of the receiving members located at each vertex of the trapezoid.

14. The obstructing member of claim 12 , wherein each receiving member further comprises an outwardly extending support element.

15. The obstructing member of claim 12 , wherein each receiving member extension comprises an aperture aligned with a corresponding aperture on the adjacent connecting element.

16. A method for producing silicon-coated granular material by thermal decomposition of a gas containing silicon, the method comprising:

providing a reactor comprising a vessel defining a chamber to contain a fluidized bed of particles and a freeboard region above the fluidized bed, an inlet positioned for delivering a silicon-bearing gas into the chamber to flow upwardly through the chamber, a fluidization inlet positioned for delivering a fluidizing gas into the chamber to flow upwardly through the chamber, an outlet for venting exhaust gas from the chamber, a top head, and one or more internal reactor components extending downwardly from the top head and into the chamber, the internal reactor components comprising a seed nozzle, a thermocouple, a pressure tap, a particle sampling line, a gas sampling line, a gas feed line, a heater, or any combination thereof;

providing a plurality of particles within the chamber;

heating the particles within the chamber to an effective temperature for thermal decomposition of a silicon-bearing gas;

passing a fluidization gas upwardly through the particles in the chamber to provide a fluidized bed of particles;

passing the silicon-bearing gas upwardly through the fluidized bed of particles to deposit silicon from the silicon-bearing gas onto the particles; and

providing an obstructing member that is positioned within the freeboard region of the chamber, that is secured to at least one of the one or more internal reactor components, and that is configured to break up a rising slug of particles in the chamber, the obstructing member comprising (a) a plurality of receiving members, each receiving member comprising a tubular wall defining a passageway dimensioned to receive an internal reactor component extending downwardly from the top head, and (b) a plurality of connecting elements connecting the receiving members, wherein the perimeter of the obstructing member defined by the connecting elements and receiving members, as viewed vertically from above the obstructing member, occupies from 15-60% of a horizontal cross-sectional area of the region of the chamber that contains the obstructing member, and wherein providing the obstructing member comprises securing the obstructing member to the at least one of the one or more internal reactor components such that one of the plurality of connecting elements has an outer surface that is coincident with a vertical central axis of the chamber and extends radially from the vertical central axis along a plane that includes the central axis.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein providing the obstructing member further comprises securing the obstructing member to the at least one of the one or more internal reactor components such that the obstructing member is positioned above the fluidized bed of particles during reactor operation.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the obstructing member comprises four receiving members and four connecting elements, and wherein the four connecting elements define a trapezoid.