Solid-stateDecarburizationofHigh-carbonFerromanganese.PDFVIP

UHONDE. P. J .• and ANGAL. R. D. Solid-slate (/clOlrburiz,ttion of high-carbon fCrr()lllangancs~. INFACON 6. Pnwef!(/iss of he 6t1l Il1lemariollol Fc,.r{)(llloy.~ COlIgn:H. Cape TowlI. Volumc I. Johannesburg. SAIMM. 1992. pp. 161-165. Solid-state Decarburization of High-carbon Ferromanganese P. J. BHONDE and R. D. ANGAL Indian Institute ofTeclmology, Bombay. Illdia Because of its unfavourable manganese-to-carbon ratio. high-carbon ferroman- ganese is unsuitable as an alloying agent for the production of alloy steels like Hadfield steel. This is true in other applicarions as well, viz coming on welding elec- trodes, where a high proportion of carbon is undesirable. The problems arising due to excess carbon are overcome by decarburization of the parent source, i.e. hjgh-car- bon ferromanganese. by conventional and non-conventional techniques. In the con- ventional method, silicon acts as a reducer. Hence, the production of low- or medi- um-carbon ferromanganese involves two steps: (1) the production of silicoman- ganese with 15 to 20 per cent silicon, and (2) the reaction of silicomanganese with MnO-rich slag. The non-conventional method makes use of various oxidizers such as steam, silica, and iron oxide for selective oxidation of the carbon. The use of oxy- gen in top- and bottom-blown MOR was also attempted.