Ferroalloys | OMC Global

Ferroalloy

Wide Range of Iron Alloys manufactured and sourced from across the world.

Ferro Aluminium is an alloy which is formed by combining iron and aluminium. Ferro Aluminium is primarily used as a de-oxidation agent for steel, as well as for moulding in combination with scrap copper and carbon steel. For example, when Ferro Aluminium alloy is melted and poured into moulds containing scrap, the mixture becomes very fluid and flows into the interstices between spatially arranged pieces of scrap. So, while the matrix alloy is actually a 65% aluminium alloy, it has the properties of a 40% alloy in terms of density.

Ferromanganese is a ferroalloy with high manganese content.High-carbon ferromanganese can contain as much as 80% Manganese by weight. It is made by heating a mixture of the oxides of Manganese and Iron , with carbon (usually as coal and coke) in either a blast furnace or an electric arc furnace-type system, called a submerged arc furnace. The oxides undergo carbothermal reduction in the furnaces, producing the ferromanganese. Ferromanganese is used as a deoxidizer for steel.

Ferroniobium is an important iron-niobium alloy, with a niobium content of 60-70%. It is the main source for niobium alloying of HSLA steel and covers more than 80% of the worldwide niobium production. The niobium is mined from pyrochlore deposits and is subsequently transformed into the niobium pentoxide . This oxide is mixed with iron oxide and aluminium and is reduced in an aluminothermic reaction to niobium and iron. The component metals can be purified in an electron beam furnace or the alloy can be used as it is. For alloying with steel the ferroniobium is added to molten steel before casting. The largest producers of ferroniobium are the same as for niobium and are located in Brazil and Canada.

Ferrochrome or ferrochromium (FeCr) is a type of ferroalloy, that is an alloy of chromium and iron generally containing 50 to 70% chromium by weight. Ferrochrome is produced by electric arc carbothermic reduction of chromite. Most of the global output is produced in South Africa, Kazakhstan and India, which have large domestic chromite resources. Increasing amounts are coming from Russia and China. Production of steel, especially that of stainless steel with chromium content of 10 to 20%, is the largest consumer and the main application of ferrochrome.

Ferroboron is a ferroalloy of iron and boron with boron content between 17.5 % to 20%. It is manufactured either by carbothermic reduction of Boric Acid in an electric arc furnace together with carbon steel, or by the aluminothermic reduction of boric acid in the presence of iron. Ferroboron is added to C-Mn and other low alloy steels to improve hardenability and can also act as a nitrogen scavenger in steel, and in the production of Neodymium Magnets ( NdFeB ).