Ferro-silico, known as ferro-silico-manganese, is one of the alloys used in the steel industry.
FeSiMn is a ferrous alloy produced by melting of manganese ore and quartzite in the presence of coke in an arc furnace. Silicon and manganese in iron and steel are used as oxidizers and for the regulation of chemicals.
As its name implies, this ferroalloy is a combination of silicon and manganese used in the production of ferromanganese carbon to produce these types of ferroalloys. The process of producing ferrosilico-manganese is much more difficult than ferromanganese. The main reason is that a higher temperature is needed to reach the desired silicon level.
Slag generated in the production of high carbon ferromanganese is commonly used to produce FeSiMn. It is produced from a combination of high manganese oxide slag containing 35% to 45% manganese oxide, manganese ore, quartz and coke.
Standard FeSiMn contains 70% manganese, 18% to 20% silicon and 10% iron and typically contains 12 to 16% silicon and 50 to 70% manganese. Silicon dioxide is used in steel making to deoxidize, desulphurize and improve the mechanical properties of steel by adding alloying elements.
Today, the economic advantage of maintaining the melt composition has increased the tendency of steelmakers to consume silicon instead of a combination of ferro-silico-manganese and ferro-manganese. According to the latest information, silica has the highest share of ferrous alloys after ferro-chrome. Of course, as same as other alloys, access to raw materials as well as energy costs have made imports a source of demand for many countries.
