ferro silicon alloy

Ferro silicon is made from coke, steel scrap and quartz by smelting in an electric furnace. Silicon and oxygen are easily synthesized into silica. Therefore, ferro silicon alloy is often used in steel making as a deoxidizer, meanwhile, a large amount of heat is released during the generation of SiO2, and it is also advantageous to increase the temperature of the molten steel while deoxidizing. The ferro silicon alloy applications have common in steel industry and foundry factory.

Deoxidizer and alloy agent in the steel industry.
To obtain qualified steel and ensure the quality of steel , deoxidation must be carried out in the final stage of steel making. The chemical affinity between silicon and oxygen is very high. Therefore, ferro silicon alloy is a strong deoxidizer for steel making for precipitation and diffusion deoxidation. Adding a certain amount of silicon into the steel, it can significantly improve the strength, hardness and elasticity of the steel. Thus smelting structural steel (containing 0.40-1.75% of silicon) , tool steel (SiO 30-1.8%), spring steel (SiO 40-2.8%), transformer steel (2.81-4.8% of silicon), ferro silicon is also used as an alloying agent. In addition, in the steel industry, using ferro silicon powder at high temperatures can release a large amount of heat. Ferro silicon is often used as a steel ingot capping agent to improve the quality and recovery of ingots.

An inoculant and spheroidizing agent in the cast iron industry.
Cast iron is an important metal material in modern industry. It is cheaper than steel, easier to melt and smelt. Also it has excellent casting properties and much better seismic performance than steel, especially ductile iron. Its mechanical properties are close to mechanical features of steel. Adding a certain amount of ferro silicon to cast iron can prevent the formation of carbides in iron and promote the precipitation and spheroidization of graphite. Therefore, in the production of ductile iron, ferro silicon is an important inoculant (helping to precipitate graphite)   and spheroidizing agent.

Reducing agent in the production of ferro alloys.
Not only the chemical affinity between silicon and oxygen is high, but also the high silicon ferro silicon has a very low carbon content. Therefore, high silicon ferro silicon (siliceous alloy) is a commonly used as reducing agent in the production of low carbon iron alloys in the iron alloy industry.

Applications in other areas.
The ferro silicon powder by finely or atomized treating can be used as a suspension phase in the beneficiation industry. The ferro silicon alloy can be used as a coating for welding rods in the electrode manufacturing industry. High silicon ferro silicon can be used in the chemical industry to make products such as silicone.The largest users of ferro silicon alloy is steel making industry, the foundry industry and the ferro alloy industry among these applications.