Iron and Steel Making

Part 2: Steel Making

Lecture 1: Ferroalloys
Prof. Dr. Hafiz A. Ahmed
Dr. Lamiaa Z. Mohamed

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 Contents

1. Introduction
2. Classification of Ferroalloys
3. Ferroalloys Production in Egypt
3.1 Egyptian Ferro Alloys Co. (Edfo-Aswan)
3.2 Sinai Manganese Company

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 1. Introduction

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 Ferroalloys are of vital importance in
steel making, as they are a necessary
“seasoning” found in every piece of steel.

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 What is Ferroalloy?

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 Ferroalloys

They make steel stronger and tougher, as

well as more resistance to heat and
corrosion

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 Market Status
Relationship between steel and Ferroalloy products

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 Market prospects for ferroalloy plants

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 Ferro raw material: Global Production and Trade
in Manganese Ore

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 Ore Reserves World-Wide

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 Present Ferroalloy production market

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 2. Classification of Ferroalloys

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 Ferroalloys have been developed to improve the
properties of steels and alloys by introducing
specific alloying elements in desirable quantities in the
most feasible technical and economic way.

Ferroalloys are namely alloys of one or more alloying

elements with iron, employed to add chemical elements
into molten metal. Not a single steel grade is produced
without ferroalloys.

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 Ferroalloys production is an important part of the manufacturing
chain between the mining and steel and alloys metallurgy:

the main task of the ferroalloys industry is the primary recovery

(reduction) of needed metals from natural minerals. As ores also
include nonmetallic minerals (gangue), they have to be dressed
(beneficiated, enriched) by one or several successive methods
(gravitational, magnetic, electric, and flotation separation, or in
some cases by chemical means) to produce useful mineral
concentrates in which the leading content of the metal is much
higher in comparison with the original ore. This allows the
production of higher-grade ferroalloys with a higher content of
leading elements and a lower content of impurity elements (usually
phosphorus, sulfur, and nonferrous metals), and it significantly
reduces specific energy consumption and production costs.

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There are several reasons why ferroalloys are used to add
necessary elements. The alloying element might be difficult to
obtain in pure form and it makes less sense to purify it (also
from iron) if the purpose is to add it back to iron-based steel
melt.

It just may not be stable in a condensed form at steelmaking

temperatures. The alloying element alone might have too much
affinity to oxygen or nitrogen, which would lead to its premature
oxidation before it would be utilized.

Eventually, the costs of 1 kg of alloying element in its ferroalloy

form are many times lower than the costs for its pure form.

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 Historically, the ferroalloys production technology used in the 19th
century was developed for blast furnaces (high-
carbon ferromanganese, low-grade ferrosilicon), as at those times it
was the main route for cast iron processing.

However, in a blast furnace it is not possible to produce ferroalloys

with elements that have a higher affinity for oxygen or with low
carbon content. This led to the development of ferroalloys to be
manufactured (smelted) in electric furnaces at the beginning of the
20th century.

Today, almost all ferroalloys are produced in submerged arc furnaces,

where raw materials (ores), reductants (coke, silicon-based ferroalloys,
aluminum), iron additions (iron ore or steel scrap), and fluxes
(lime, magnesia, dolomite, limestone, fluorspar, etc.) are loaded and
smelted, followed by the tapping of slag and metal.

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 Ferroalloys

1. Bulk Ferro Alloys 2. Minor Ferro Alloys

85% to 90% in steel making Industry used in Non-ferrous industries and
Chemical Industry
Such as Ferrosilicon and
Such as ferronickel and
Ferromanganese ferrotitanium

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 Classification of Ferroalloys
• Manganese alloys (Ferromanganese, silico-manganese)

• Ferrosilicon

• Chrome alloys
• Noble Ferroalloys (Ferromolybdenum, Ferrovanadium,
Ferrotungsten, Magnesium Ferrosilicon, Ferroboron,
Ferrotitanium)
 High carbon Ferromanganese

High carbon Ferrosilicon

Ferrosilicon

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 Ferroboron

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 The five major ferroalloys

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 3.1 Egyptian Ferro Alloys Co.
(Edfo-Aswan)

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• The Egyptian Ferroalloys Company manufactures, markets,
distributes and exports ferrosilicon 75% in international and
domestic markets.
• It is the largest industrial center for the production of
ferrosilicon alloys in the Middle East. Its production is used
in the iron and steel industries.
• The city of Edfu was chosen to set up the plant on its
proximity to the sources of electricity generation. As well as
the provision of pure quartz ore in the area of ​Um Heglig,
which is one hundred and ten kilometers from the city of
Edfu.
• The factory was built on an area of ​about fifty acres. The
production depends on the availability of raw materials
required for this industry locally

• The first and second kilns were operated in the first half of
1987.
• The third and fourth furnaces were operated in the second
half of 1988.

• The production capacity is about fifty thousand tons per

year
Ferro Silicon is a kind of ferroalloy which is composed of
ferrous and silicon. Ferro Silicon uses coke, quartz (or silica)
as raw materials and is made by electric furnace. Because
silicon and oxygen are easily compound into SiO2, the
ferrosilicon is often used as deoxidizer in steelmaking.

Application：
1.Ferrosilicon is often used as deoxidizer in steel- making.
2. Ferrosilicon also can be used as alloy elements join agent,
which is widely used in low alloy steel, non-ferrous metal,
bearing steel, heat-resistant steels and electrician silicon-steel.
3. It can be used as a reductant in ferroalloy production and
chemical industry.
4. In iron industry it can be used as inoculant and nodulizer.
 Chemical composition of different types of
Ferrosilicon
Chemical Composition (%)
Brand Al Ca P S C Fe
Si
<=
FeSi75-A 74.0-80.0 1.5 1 0.035 0.02 0.2 Balance

FeSi75-B 72.0-80.0 1.5 1 0.04 0.02 0.2 Balance

FeSi72 72 1.5 1 0.04 0.02 0.2 Balance
FeSi70 70 1.5 1 0.04 0.02 0.2 Balance
FeSi65 65.0-72.0 2 1 0.04 0.02 0.2 Balance
FeSi45 40.0-47.0 2 2 0.04 0.02 0.2 Balance

Size:0-3mm,3-10mm,10-100mm or as the customers’ requirements

Packing: 25Kg/bag, 1MT/bag or as your requirements.
Remark: chemical composition and size can be optimized by the customers' requirements.
 High carbon Ferrosilicon

Silicon carbon alloy is a new kind of alloy used in

converter. Most of the wholesalers of silicon-
carbon alloy replace ferrosilicon, silicon carbide
and carburizing agent, which is used in converter
smelting deoxygenation and alloying.
Advantage
Reduce the cost of steelmaking, increase economic benefits,
improve product quality and stable performance.
Use
The silicon carbon alloy replaces ferrosilicon, silicon carbide
and carburizer, reduces the dosage of deoxidizer, carries on the
converter deoxidization alloying, the effect is stable, the steel
chemical composition, the mechanical property and the internal
control quality are superior to the traditional craft.
The test and production show that the deoxygenation technology
of converter using si-c alloy greatly reduces the cost of
steelmaking tonnage steel, creates considerable economic
benefits and improves the competitive advantage of steel
market.
 Chemical composition of HC silicon

Type Chemical Composition

Si C Al S P Size
HC
Silicon 0.05% 0.03%
65%min 15-20% 3% max 10-50mm
max max

Other
0-1mm, 0-10mm, 50-100mm or as the customers' requirements
Size
 3.2 Sinai Manganese Company

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Sinai Manganese Co. (SMC) was founded on May, 18th. 1957, to
exploit the manganese deposits in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The
company succeeded to replace the British Sinai Mining Company
which ceased its operations in June 1960 the mandate of SMC
was expanded to include exploration of other economic mineral
sources such as Kaolin, Gypsum, Bentonite, Silica Sand, Quartz
& Manganese ore.

SMC produces the high and low grades of manganese ore. SMC
operates a 36000 MTPA electrical furnace at Abu-Zinima Sinai,
Egypt, producing the high carbon Ferro Manganese. There is no
other competitor in the Middle East producing such Ferroalloy.
SMC has its own gas turbine power station producing 21 MW.

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 • Since 1993, SMC was specialized in the high
carbon Ferro Manganese having 76% contents
of Manganese.

• Considering the rising in demand of Silico-

Manganese, SMC has embarked upon an
expansion plan to produce both Ferro & Silico
Manganese alloys.

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 High Carbon Ferro Manganese:

SMC was the first producer of Ferro-Manganese in the Middle

East. The plant was established in 1966 and unfortunately,
didn’t start production due to the Arab Israel war in 1967.
Rehabilitation project took place after the withdrawal of the
Israel forces from Sinai and in 1993, the project was completed
under the supervision of Elkem, the famous Norwegian Ferro-
alloy producer. The plant comprises one electric furnace of 21
MW and the power needed for the furnace is insured by a
power station using 3 gas turbines each of 7 MW. The power
station was commissioned by ABB of Switzerland. The
capacity of the furnace is about 36,000 MTPA of high carbon
Ferro Manganese.
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 Chemical Composition

Constituents High Grade Low Grade

Mn 74 : 78 70 :74
C 6: 8 6: 8

Si 1.50 max. 1.50 max.

P 0.2 max. 0.25 max.

S 0.03 max. 0.03 max.

Size According to customer requirements.

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 Thank You

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