1414 Degrees Ltd. announced that its silicon storage media was heated to 1414°C in the SiBox Demonstration Module and is ready for operational cycle testing.
On reaching this milestone, and with a patent pending, the company can reveal its storage media product is a high energy density brick, currently termed 14D BRICK, composed of silicon alloy. Its unique thermophysical properties can be used for supplying a constant temperature hot air stream in the range 800°C - 1200°C. The 14D BRICK is the only product that can supply stable heat in this range to replace burning fossil fuels in industrial processes. It does this by effectively harnessing the very high latent heat of silicon at melting point. This is a milestone achievement for 1414 Degrees' technical team because it does this in the presence of air that has previously proven to be very destructive of silicon storage media. The size and shape of the 14D BRICK can be varied to requirements. As the picture shows, in the current demonstration module the bricks form walls that could be extended upwards and lengthwise to increase storage to larger scale. The next commercial stage will be 20 to 100 times larger to supply heat to an industrial process. The company is currently in discussions with end users in the minerals and cement production industry to determine process design requirements. Future models of 14D BRICK are being developed for mass production in the global $32bn refractory manufacturing industry. A European refractory manufacturer has been assisting in the development of brick for several years.