Growth of large diameter silicon tubes can bring further advancements in th
e photovoltaic technology. Efforts are underway to grow first 50 cm and the
n 100 cm diameter tube using the current octagonal tube growth technique. A
two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model has been developed to simulat
e and design a large diameter cylindrical tube growth system. The model use
s magnetic vector potential equation to predict the induced magnetic field
and heat generation due to magnetic induction. A conduction-based model tha
t accounts for the heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation in
various components of the system is employed to calculate the temperature
held. The model predictions agree well with the experimental data. A parame
tric study is performed to examine the effects of number of coils, current,
position of coil and geometry of the growth system, and to obtain the desi
red temperature profile. Numerical results for magnetic and thermal fields
are presented for various cases. The goal of this investigation is to optim
ize the system with respect to the die tip temperature and temperature prof
ile in the grown tube. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.