What are the advantages and disadvantages of ferrosilicon powder with different particle sizes in specific application scenarios?

Coarse-grained ferrosilicon powder

The difference between white cast iron and gray cast iron

Advantages

Good deoxidation effect: It contains a large amount of silicon element, which can react with oxygen in molten steel to form silicon dioxide, effectively removing oxygen from the molten steel and improving the purity and quality of steel.
Significant alloying effect: It can be used as an alloy additive to adjust the hardness and toughness of steel. Moreover, elements such as aluminum, calcium, and manganese contained in it can also improve the properties of steel, for example, enhancing the antioxidant performance of stainless steel.
Strong inoculation effect: When used as an inoculant in the cast iron industry, its inoculation effect is stronger than that of ordinary ferrosilicon, which can more effectively promote the precipitation and spheroidization of graphite and improve the machinability of castings.
High stability: Its high melting point enables it to remain stable during the high-temperature casting process, is not easy to volatilize or decompose, and is not prone to oxidation at high temperatures, thus maintaining its original properties.
Low slag generation tendency: During the smelting process, it has a low tendency to generate slag, which helps to reduce production costs.

Slow dissolution speed: Due to its large particle size and small specific surface area, it has a relatively slow dissolution speed in molten steel or molten iron and may take a long time to fully play its role.
Poor distribution uniformity: It is difficult to disperse quickly and evenly in molten steel or molten iron, which may lead to excessive or insufficient local silicon content and affect the uniformity of the properties of steel or castings.

Medium-grained ferrosilicon powder

Ferrosilicon Powder

Good deoxidation and alloying effects: It can effectively remove oxygen from molten steel and act as an alloying agent to improve the hardness, toughness and other properties of steel to meet the production requirements of different steel grades.
Good inoculation and spheroidization effects: In the casting process of cast iron, it can promote the precipitation and spheroidization of graphite, improve the microstructure of cast iron, and enhance the mechanical properties such as strength, hardness and wear resistance of castings.
Uniform particle size: The particle size is relatively uniform and the shape is regular, which is easy to identify and classify. During the use process, it is convenient to control the addition amount and ensure the uniformity of distribution.
Balancing efficiency and quality: Its particle size is moderate. It neither dissolves as slowly as coarse particles nor agglomerates or flies easily like fine particles. While ensuring the metallurgical effect, it also has good operational convenience.

Limited application scenarios: Although it is widely used in steelmaking and casting, for some special processes or the production of high-end products that require extremely high dissolution speed and distribution uniformity of ferrosilicon powder, its effect may not be as good as that of fine-grained ferrosilicon powder.
High production control requirements: To achieve the ideal particle size range of 3 - 8mm, higher requirements are placed on the control of processes such as crushing and screening in the production process. Otherwise, products with unqualified particle sizes are likely to appear.

Fine-grained ferrosilicon powder

ferrosilicon powder

Fast dissolution: With a large specific surface area, it can dissolve quickly in molten steel or molten iron, achieving the purposes of deoxidation and alloying in a short time, improving production efficiency, especially suitable for the rapid steelmaking process.
Uniform dispersion: It can be better dispersed evenly in molten steel or molten iron, fully combining with other alloy elements, making the composition and properties of steel or castings more uniform and stable, which is conducive to improving product quality.
Enhanced deoxidation ability: Due to its fine particle size and large contact area with oxygen, it has a better deoxidation effect, can further reduce the oxygen content in molten steel, reduce inclusions in steel, and improve the purity of steel.
Suitable for special processes: For the production of some special steel grades that require precise control of composition and properties, such as ultra-low carbon steel and high-alloy steel, as well as precision casting processes that require high dispersibility of inoculants and spheroidizing agents, fine-grained ferrosilicon powder can better meet the requirements.

Prone to oxidation and agglomeration: Because of its fine particle size and large specific surface area, it is easy to react with oxygen in the air during storage and use, resulting in deterioration of the ferrosilicon powder. Meanwhile, fine particles are prone to attracting each other and agglomerating, which affects their dispersion effect in molten steel or molten iron.
Dust flying: It is easy to generate dust flying during handling and use, which not only causes the loss of ferrosilicon powder but also poses certain hazards to the environment and the health of operators. Therefore, strict protection and dust removal measures need to be taken.
High cost: Producing fine-grained ferrosilicon powder requires more refined grinding and screening processes, and the processing cost is relatively high, resulting in a higher product price, which restricts its large-scale application to a certain extent.