Ferroaluminum (FeAl) is a

ferroalloy Ferroalloy refers to various alloys of iron with a high proportion of one or more other elements such as manganese (Mn), aluminium (Al), or silicon (Si). They are used in the production of steels and alloys. The alloys impart distinctive qualitie ...

, consisting of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

. The metal usually consists of 40% to 60% aluminium and applications of ferroaluminum include the deoxidation of steel, hardfacing applications, reducing agent, thermite reactions, AlNiCo magnets, and alloying additions to welding wires and fluxes. The alloy is also known for the ability to manufacture low melting point alloys and its ability to carry out aluminothermic welding. Ferroaluminum does not currently have a

CAS Registry Number A CAS Registry Number (also referred to as CAS RN or informally CAS Number) is a unique identification number assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), US to every chemical substance described in the open scientific literature. It inclu ...

. The presence of iron in aluminum helps in the decrease of

casting defect A casting defect is an undesired irregularity in a metal casting process. Some defects can be tolerated while others can be repaired, otherwise they must be eliminated. They are broken down into five main categories: ''gas porosity'', ''shrinkage ...

s, improves tensile, yield, hardness, and maintains strength at high temperatures. The first recorded usage of the word "ferroaluminum" was in 1887. Ferroaluminum can also be nitrided, as the aluminium bonds well with the nitrogen forming a hard case. The aluminum provided in the alloy helps with this process. The majority of the world's ferroaluminum is produced by Australia, China, Russia, the US and Canada, with the cost of electricity being the main factor in the

aluminum smelting Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery. This is an electrolyti ...

process.

Manufacturing process

Ferroaluminum is manufactured in an electricity-intensive process that involves three steps. First, aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) is obtained through the

Bayer process The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the ...

by digestion of

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

with

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali ...

(NaOH) at about 240 °C. Second, the aluminium oxide is subjected to a

Hall–Héroult process The Hall–Héroult process is the major industrial process for smelting aluminium. It involves dissolving aluminium oxide (alumina) (obtained most often from bauxite, aluminium's chief ore, through the Bayer process) in molten cryolite, and el ...

together with

cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is an uncommon mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. History Cryolite was first described in 1798 by Danish vete ...

to obtain aluminium that will then be combined with iron to create the ferroaluminum. Last, after the solidification of the metal, milling and sieving processes are carried out, which obtains the suitable particle size for its applications.

Chemical composition

Physical properties

References

{{reflist Ferroalloys