HIGH CARBON FERRO SILICON (72 % MIN SI- CONTENT)

A re-placement of Ferro Silicon in High Carbon Steel making

The world has gotten smaller making it difficult to compete with international companies. In the steel making process, lower input costs are vital for the success of the plant and its competitiveness internationally.

Mineral-Loy has found a recently developed alternative product to the highly expensive Ferro Silicon. This alternative product is used elsewhere in the world but not locally, until now. Our steel products are therefore continuously deemed uncompetitive due to such cost-effective products which have not been available to the South African steel mills.

We introduce High Carbon Ferro Silicon, a great alternative to Ferro Silicon. It is produced as a by-product in the Silicon Metal production process. With its low adoption, it is available at relatively dirt cheap prices (20 – 30 % below Ferro Silicon). We would like to introduce this to local steel mills as it is really beneficial for steel making, particularly high carbon steel due to the additional free Carbon in the alloy.

With chemistry similar to that of Ferro Silicon, there are additional benefits of lower impurities such as Aluminium, Phosphorous and Sulphur. Table 1 below shows the material specification including size ranges available.

As a deoxidising agent through Silicon, it provides additional deoxidation through Carbon until equilibrium state limiting the amount of both Silicon and Carbon oxidised into SiO₂ and CO₂ respectively. Any surplus Silicon and Carbon remaining in the solution, helps to enhance mechanical properties of the steel, i.e. strength, hardness, resistance to corrosion and oxidation. Furthermore, it limits downstream addition of Carbon.

It is through the surplus Silicon and Carbon in the solution that all the Chromium oxide in addition to the SiO₂ in the saturated slag is further reduced.

High Carbon Ferro Silicon from Mineral-Loy will offer great benefits;

1. The aforementioned efficient dual functionality of deoxidation and Recarburiser.
2. Improved steel quality from improved mechanical properties
3. Generally High Carbon Ferro Silicon is more economical compared to Ferro Silicon, pure silicon and it is for this reason that it has found its popularity in steelmaking industry.