Energy-Saving Process for Industrial Production of Ferro-Silicon-Magnesium Alloy | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Chemistry | ||
| Volume 68, Issue 13, December 2025, Pages 831-840 PDF (2.7 M) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejchem.2025.370217.11500 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Mamdouh Mahmoud Eissa1; Hoda El-Faramawy1; Mahmoud Nasr1; Azza Ahmed1; Saeed Ghali1; Hossam Halfa1; Mohamed El-Fawakhry1; Esraa Kotb* 2 | ||
| 1CMRDI | ||
| 2Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, CMRDI | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Ferro-silicon-magnesium (FeSiMg) is an essential addition currently using in the production of ductile cast iron. FeSiMg is considered an excellent alloy to introduce magnesium into cast iron to modify the form of graphite in matrix from flake-shaped graphite into nodular graphite. Two-step route is currently the most common technique for producing ferro-silicon-magnesium alloy. In the first step, ferro-silicon alloy is produced in submerged arc furnace (SAF). In the second step, ferro-silicon is re-melted together with steel scrap in induction furnace (IF), and the produced molten metal is pouring into ladle containing Mg-ingots, calcium-silicon, and rare earth elements. Instead of this energy-intensive technology, one-step energy-saving process has been used to produce ferro-silicon-magnesium alloy containing calcium and rare earth elements. Submerged electric arc furnace was used to produce molten ferrosilicon and the heat content of which was used during tapping to melt the coated magnesium ingots, rare earth elements, calcium-silicon, and steel scrap to produce ferrosilicon-magnesium alloy in one step. Furthermore, an innovative technique was employed to enhance magnesium recovery by applying a protective layer of ferrosilicon fines onto the surface of Mg-ingots. By applying this technology, magnesium-recovery was found to increase and power consumption decreasing by increasing both tapping rate and surface coated percentage of Mg-ingots. Applying higher tapping rate of 202-268 kg/min and coating of 76-80% of Mg-ingots surface, higher Mg-recovery of 74.2-74.8% and lower power consumption of 6.3-6.5 MWh/ton FeSiMg were obtained. Adopting the one-step process instead of the conventional two-step (SAF-IF) route results in an energy savings of 5,322 kWh per ton FeSiMg alloy. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Energy-saving; industrial process; submerged arc furnace; ferro-silicon-magnesium; rare earth elements; calcium silicon; magnesium-recovery | ||
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