Oleg OstrovskiU. of New South WalesThe Use Of Hydrogen In Ferroalloymaking Assis International Symposium (9th Intl. Symp. on Advanced Sustainable Iron & Steel Making) Back to Plenary Lectures » | |
Abstract:Steelmaking is impossible without ferroalloys; up to 95% of ferroalloys is used in steelmaking, and growth of production of ferroalloys is driven by growth of steelmaking, which is expected to reach 2,500 Mt by 2050. Currently, more than 50 projects are in progress to decrease carbon emission in steelmaking. In comparison with ironmaking, which has more than a dozen different technologies, ferroallomaking is very conservative; it is based on the carbothermal reduction of oxides in submerged electric arc furnaces at high temperatures. The paper considers reduction of manganese oxides by hydrogen to MnO and carbothermal reduction of manganese, chromium and titanium oxides in hydrogen. MnO can be processed further to metallic manganese in the electrolytic process. Direct reduction of stable metal oxides (manganese, chromium, titanium, silicon and other oxides) to the metallic state requires very high H2 to H2O ratio, which can be achieved by the carbothermal reduction in hydrogen. Carbothermal reduction in hydrogen can be implemented at lower temperatures in the solid state with potential advantages over conventional reduction of oxides from molten slags. |