A set of technologies has been created

A team of scientists led by President of the Kazakh National Academy of Natural Sciences Nurtai Abykayev has been recommended for nomination for the 2017 Al-Farabi State Prize in Science and Technology.

Scientists have developed the technological foundations for the production of high-quality and special types of steel. We are talking about "stainless steel" and high-strength grades of electrical steel, the raw materials for which will be poor high-phosphorous ores, brown iron ore, man-made waste, brought to the stage of conditioned iron-containing concentrate.

As Abdurasul Zharenov, Director General of the National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, noted during a round table meeting in Almaty on the topic "Raw materials for the machine-building industry of Kazakhstan", the proposed complex of technologies allows involving a huge array of so-called "off-balance sheet" ores in metallurgical conversion. This includes 400 billion tons of brown iron ore, of which 12 billion tons are from the Lisakovskoye, Ayatskoye, and Kokbulak deposits, 450 million tons of oxidized nickel ores from the Aktobe group of deposits, including the annual accumulation of 700 thousand tons of man–made iron-containing waste and refractory slags from metallurgical industries.

The main advantage of the scientific work (its full name is "The development of world–class technologies for involving low-quality (high-phosphorous limestone) and man-made raw materials in the processing, ensuring the competitiveness of steel production and their commercialization"), according to the academician, is that Kazakhstan will receive a technological basis for the production of metals, depending on the import of which did not allow the republic to develop domestic competitive engineering.

Meanwhile, according to Abdurasul Zharmenov, our own raw material base is an indispensable condition for the successful development of the industry of heat–resistant and anti-corrosion grades of steel according to AISI standards, new generation refractory materials for high-temperature metallurgical units and assemblies.

For example, it is impossible to manufacture stainless steel without domestic raw materials. Kazakhstani scientists have created an alloy of chromium cast iron from various waste materials, which will serve as the raw material for "stainless steel" – it is cheaper and at the same time has a more stable composition.

The introduction of this technology at ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC will allow Kazakhstan to obtain its own steel for the production of wide-section steel pipes. The scientists also managed to develop a technology for producing high-quality iron ore concentrate without phosphorus at a cost lower than imported raw materials.

– Mechanical engineering is one of the most important sectors of the economy of any industrially developed country. The volume of production in this industry in the republic has increased 17 times over the years of independence," the head of the Treasury said. – However, there are problems hindering this process. Firstly, the country remains dependent on imports of high-value-added products. Secondly, the level of development of mechanical engineering is determined by the state of affairs in the basic industries, primarily metallurgical, chemical, as well as the availability of raw materials and energy components.

Kazakhstani scientists have created a complex of world-class technologies that allow the start of domestic production of high-quality steel, which will significantly increase the competitiveness of enterprises in the engineering, automotive and oil and gas service industries.

Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, No.134 (28513), July 17, 2017