Ferroalloys are an alloy composed of iron and one or several elements, that are mainly used for steel smelting. In the steel industry, all intermediate alloys used in steelmaking, whether containing iron or not (such as silicon-calcium alloy), are generally called “ferroalloys”. It is also customary to include some pure metal additives and oxide additives.
Ferroalloy Effect
①Deoxidizer: During the steelmaking process, oxygen is removed from the molten steel, and some ferroalloys can also remove other impurities in the steel such as sulfur and nitrogen.
②Alloy additives: According to the steel composition requirements, alloying elements are added to the steel to improve the properties of the steel.
③Inoculants: Add it to molten iron before casting to improve the structure of the casting. In addition, it is also used as a reducing agent for the production of other ferrous alloys and non-ferrous metals by the metal thermal reduction method; as an alloy additive for non-ferrous alloys; it is also used in a small amount in the chemical industry and other industries.
Characteristic of ferroalloy
The main element of iron alloy generally has a higher melting point, or its oxide is difficult to reduce, making it difficult to smelt pure metal. If it is combined with iron, it is easier to reduce and smelt. The use of ferroalloys in steel smelting, which contain iron, is not only harmless; it is more advantageous because it is easily soluble in molten steel. Therefore, deoxidation and alloy addition during the steelmaking process is mostly in the form of ferroalloy. Ferrous alloys are generally very brittle and cannot be used as gold materials.
Basic use of ferroalloy
As steelmaking deoxidizers, the most widely used are silicomanganese, ferromanganese, and ferrosilicon. Strong deoxidizers are aluminum (aluminum iron), calcium silicon, silica, etc. (see deoxidation reaction of steel). Commonly used varieties used as alloy additives include ferromanganese, ferrochromium, ferrosilicon, ferrotungsten, ferromolybdenum, ferrovanadium, ferrotitanium, ferronickel, copper (basic) iron, rare earth ferroalloys, ferroboron, ferrophosphorus, etc.
According to the needs of steelmaking, various ferroalloys are specified in many grades according to the content of alloying elements or the carbon content, and the impurity content is strictly limited. Iron alloys containing two or more alloying elements are called composite iron alloys. Using this type of iron alloy, deoxidizing or alloying elements can be added at the same time, which is beneficial to the steelmaking process and can comprehensively utilize symbiotic ore resources more economically and rationally. Commonly used ones are manganese silicon, calcium silicon, silica, silicon manganese aluminum, silicon manganese calcium and rare earth ferrosilicon, etc.
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