Ferrochrome converter

The purpose of a ferrochrome converter (CRC) is to remove silicon as well as part of carbon from the molten ferrochrome by blowing oxygen into the melt. The CRC process produces raw material for the AOD converter used in stainless steel production. The CRC uses molten ferrochrome with high silicon and carbon contents and stainless steel scrap as raw materials. Therefore, the CRC process serves effectively as a link between ferrochrome production and stainless steel production. At the Process Metallurgy Research Unit, research has focused on chemical reactions and their equilibria in the metal bath.

Highlights

• A fast electrochemical method was successfully tested for determining the initial silicon content in the ferrochrome converter process. Consequently, more accurate process-control calculations can reduce process variation, environmental burden, and operating costs.
• Crucible tests were used to determine slag-composition regions that improve the refractory compatibility of ferrochrome-converter slags.

Selected publications

• V.-V. Visuri, E.-P. Heikkinen, J. Kaisto, A. Harju, R. Mattila, P. Kupari, T. Ikäheimonen, and T. Fabritius, The Effect of the MgO Content of Slag on its Penetrability into the Refractory Lining in a Ferrochrome Converter, Proceedings of the 16th International Ferro-Alloys Congress (A. Wærnes, G. Tranell, M. Tangstad, E. Ringdalen, and C. van der Eijk, eds.), SINTEF/NTNU/FFF, Trondheim, Norway, 2021.
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• H. Pesonen, V.-V. Visuri, T. Ikäheimonen, and T. Fabritius, "In Situ Measurement of Silicon Content in Molten Ferrochrome", Proceedings of the 3rd European Steel Technology and Application Days, The Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials, Vienna, Austria, pp. 1218–1227, 2017.
• E.-P. Heikkinen, T. Ikäheimonen, O. Mattila, T. Fabritius, and V.-V. Visuri, "Behavior of Silicon, Carbon and Chromium in the Ferrochrome Converter – A Comparison Between the CTD and Process Samples", Proceedings of the 6th European Oxygen Steelmaking Conference, Jernkontoret, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011.