Kazakhstansky Alloy is a centennial event for metallurgy

The XIII World Congress of Ferro-alloys "INFACON XIII" was held in the Almaty multifunctional complex "Almaty Towers" on June 9-12, 2013. The event was organized by the National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Congress has been held in different countries since 1974 and gathers the best specialists from the world's leading manufacturers and consumers of ferroalloy products, as well as representatives of the scientific community.

This year's Congress was held for the first time in the territory of one of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The determining factor in choosing the Republic of Kazakhstan as the international venue for INFACON XIII was the creation by scientists of the National Center for the Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of a unique ferrosilicon aluminum alloy (Kazakhstansky alloy), which became a truly revolutionary event in the ferroalloy and related industries.

The total number of participants in the congress was about 400 people from 36 countries on all continents.

Such important industry issues as improving the efficiency of technological processes in the production of ferroalloys were discussed at the congress. The intensive development of the ferroalloy industry observed in recent years has been accompanied by a deterioration in the quality of raw materials and depletion of mineral resources. Under these conditions, the problems of rational use of available raw materials and increasing production efficiency are of paramount importance. In addition, with the steady growth of production, special attention should be paid to environmental safety issues.

During the forum, a lively exchange of views took place on the problems of preparing materials for melting, the production of chromium, manganese, ferronickel, ferrosilicon and other ferroalloys (FeNb, FeMo, FeV, etc.) and many other issues.

The rapidly growing demand for ferroalloys, rising prices and an understanding of the need to ensure reliable satisfaction of this demand require the introduction of innovations in the industry. Stable production, better use of natural resources and energy, extended service life, as well as consideration of environmental aspects are just a few of the topics on which experts exchanged ideas and innovations for the development of the industry during the congress.

Nevertheless, the most anticipated event and the stunning final chord of the congress was the official launch on June 13, 2013 of the industrial production of ferrosilicon aluminum alloy Kazakhstansky at KSP Steel LLP.

The opening ceremony was attended by Akim of Pavlodar region Yerlan Aryn, the leadership of the RSE "National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan" and the South Korean company Posco.

Director General of the National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of Kazakhstan, academician Abdurasul Zharmenov noted that the opening of a new production facility is the result of the fact that the state began to receive returns from science after investments made in it. After signing the memorandum with Posco, the head of the national center said that the South Korean company would build the first plant for the production of ferrosilicon aluminum using Kazakh technology with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year in Kyrgyzstan. The second enterprise with Kazakh participation is planned to be established in Brazil. Posco is a large company with an annual turnover of $80 billion. Another ferrosilicon aluminum plant will be built in Karaganda with the participation of large metallurgical companies from Germany and Japan. "We will continue to work not only on our new alloy, but also on other innovative areas," A. Zharmenov added.

The appearance of ferrosilicoaluminium is the result of thirty years of work by scientists of the Karaganda Chemical and Metallurgical Institute, part of the National Center for Integrated Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Our foreign metallurgist colleagues call this material revolutionary. When new materials appear, the need for them is usually 50-100 thousand tons per year due to the specificity of their use. The demand for ferrosilicon aluminum in the world immediately amounted to several million tons.

The creation of ferrosilicoaluminium was awarded the 2001 State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of science, technology and education for a cycle of work in 1983-2000.

What is the uniqueness of ferrosilicoaluminium and its importance for metallurgy? In the process of melting steel, oxygen degrades the quality of the metal. To avoid this and extract oxygen from the melt, a technique called deoxidation of steel is used. That is, ferrosilicon and aluminum in ingots are added to its molten mass. The technologies for producing aluminum and ferrosilicon are energy-intensive and require high costs when preparing raw materials for smelting pig aluminum.

The resulting alloy of iron, silicon and aluminum with additives of modifier elements of nonmetallic inclusions (calcium, barium, etc.) and alloying elements (vanadium, titanium, etc.) due to its properties has a high degree of assimilation by liquid steel, reduces nonmetallic inclusions and visible hot cracks, improves the structure and quality of the processed steel. The experimental batches of Kazakhstansky alloy have successfully passed testing at ThyssenKrupp Metallurgie GmbH (Germany) and industrial tests at Ferroalloys Trading House (Russia), Colakoglu Metallurgy (Turkey).

Pavlodar ferrosilicon aluminum, according to Vadim Savitsky, director of the Pavlodar branch of KSP Steel LLP, significantly reduces energy costs and ferrosilicon consumption, and the produced steel itself turns out to be of higher quality. Therefore, KSP Steel LLP, which produces oil pipeline and tubing pipes, steel blanks, and other metallurgical products, has relied on the production of ferrosilicon aluminum, which will cover its own needs. And with the introduction of two more furnaces, it became possible to sell this deoxidizer to other metallurgical industries.

"This is an important point – Kazakhstan has its own new technologies that are being introduced into production," concluded the head of the Pavlodar region.

M. Sakenov