Ferroniobium 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 ...

niobium Niobium is a chemical element with chemical symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs hardness rating similar to pure titanium, and it has s ...

alloy, with a niobium content of 60-70%. It is the main source for niobium 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 ...

and covers more than 80% of the worldwide niobium production. The niobium is mined from pyrochlore deposits and is subsequently transformed into the niobium pentoxide Nb₂O₅. This oxide is mixed with

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of wh ...

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. It ha ...

and is reduced in 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 niobium and iron. The component metals can be purified in an

electron beam furnace An electron-beam furnace (EB furnace) is a type of vacuum furnace employing high-energy electron beam in vacuum as the means for delivery of heat to the material being melted. It is one of the electron-beam technologies. Electron-beam furnaces ...

or the alloy can be used as it is. For alloying with steel the ferroniobium is added to molten steel before casting. The largest producers of ferroniobium are the same as for niobium and are located in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

External links

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ISO 5453:1980 Ferroniobium -- Specification and conditions of delivery

References

Ferroalloys Niobium alloys {{alloy-stub