Ferro molybdenum is an important

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 ...

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ...

metal

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductili ...

, with a molybdenum content of 60-75% It is the main source for molybdenum alloying of

HSLA steel High-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) is a type of alloy steel that provides better mechanical properties or greater resistance to corrosion than carbon steel. HSLA steels vary from other steels in that they are not made to meet a specific chemica ...

Production

The alloy is produced by heating a mixture of

molybdenum(VI) oxide Molybdenum trioxide describes a family of inorganic compounds with the formula MoO3(H2O)n where n = 0, 1, 2. These compounds are produced on the largest scale of any molybdenum compound. The anhydrous oxide is a precursor to molybdenum metal, an ...

MoO₃,

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. It ha ...

, and iron. The oxide and the aluminium combine via an

aluminothermic reaction Aluminothermic reactions are exothermic chemical reactions using aluminum as the reducing agent at high temperature. The process is industrially useful for production of alloys of iron. The most prominent example is the thermite reaction between ...

to give molybdenum in situ. The ferromolybdenum can be purified by electron beam melting or used as it is. For alloying with steel the ferromolybdenum is added to molten steel before casting. Among the biggest suppliers of ferromolybdenum in Europe are the English trading house Derek Raphael and Co Ltd and the English Trading House MTALX LTD in London. A large ferromolybdenum producer in the US is Langeloth Metallurgical Company in Langeloth, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

* * Ferroalloys Molybdenum {{alloy-stub