Main applications of ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon is made from coke, steel scrap, and quartz (or silica), and is smelted in an electric furnace. Traditionally, ferrosilicon is refined by reducing silicon from silica containing SIO2. Most of the ferrosilicon smelting uses metallurgical coke as the reducing agent and steel scrap as the conditioning agent for ferrosilicon.
The raw material and electricity consumption for the production of one ton of ferrosilicon is
Silica: 1780-1850kg
Coke: 890-930kg
Steel scrap: 220-230kg
Electrode paste: 45-55kg
Electricity consumption: 8400-9000kwh/t
Ferrosilicon is an essential deoxidizer in the steelmaking industry. In torrefied steel, ferrosilicon is used for precipitation deoxidation and diffusion deoxidation. Brick billet iron is also used in steelmaking as an alloying agent. The addition of a certain amount of silicon in steel can significantly improve the strength, hardness and elasticity of steel, improve the permeability of steel, and reduce the hysteresis loss of transformer steel. General steel containing silicon 0.15%-0.35%, structural steel containing silicon 0.40% ~ 1.75%, tool steel containing silicon 0.30% ~ 1.80%, spring steel containing silicon 0.40% ~ 2.80%, stainless acid-resistant steel containing silicon 3.40% ~ 4.00%, heat-resistant steel containing silicon 1.00% ~ 3.00%, silicon steel containing silicon 2% ~ 3% or higher.
High ferrosilicon or siliceous alloy is used in the ferroalloy industry as a reducing agent for the production of low-carbon ferroalloys. Ferrosilicon added to cast iron can be used as the inoculant of ductile iron, and can prevent the formation of carbide, promote the precipitation of graphite and spheroidization, improve the performance of cast iron.
In addition, ferrosilicon powder can be used as a suspension phase in the mineral processing industry and as a coating for welding rods in the welding rod manufacturing industry; high-silicon ferrosilicon can be used in the electrical industry to prepare pure silicon for semiconductors, and in the chemical industry to manufacture silicone, etc.
