Common uses of ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon is a ferroalloy consisting of iron and silicon. Ferrosilicon is mainly used in steel making and casting. Ferrosilicon is an iron-silicon alloy made from coke, steel scrap and quartz (or silica), smelted in an electric furnace.
1) Ferrosilicon is used as a breeder and spheroidizer in the cast iron industry. Cast iron is an important metal material in modern industry, it is cheaper than steel, easy to melt and smelt, has excellent casting performance and much better shock resistance than steel. Ductile iron, in particular, has mechanical properties that are at or close to those of steel. The addition of a certain amount of ferrosilicon in cast iron can prevent the formation of carbides in iron, promote the precipitation of graphite and spheroidization, thus in the production of ductile iron, ferrosilicon is an important inoculant (to help precipitate graphite) and spheroidizing agent.
(2) Ferrosilicon is used as a reducing agent in the production of ferroalloys. Not only is the chemical affinity between silicon and oxygen high, but the carbon content of high ferrosilicon silica is very low. Therefore high ferrosilicon (or siliceous alloy) is a more commonly used reducing agent in the ferroalloy industry for the production of low carbon ferroalloys.
(3) 75# ferrosilicon in the Pijiang method of magnesium refining is often used in the high temperature smelting process of magnesium metal, CaO.MgO in magnesium replacement, each production of a ton of magnesium metal will consume about 1.2 tons of ferrosilicon, plays a great role in the production of magnesium metal.
(4)Ferrosilicon is used in other ways. Finely ground or atomised ferrosilicon powder can be used as a suspension phase in the mineral processing industry. It can be used as a coating for welding rods in the welding rod manufacturing industry. High ferrosilicon can be used in the chemical industry to manufacture products such as silicones.
