Reductant Formation Enthalpy in DC Ferrochrome Smelting: Merely Academic or Fundamental to Operation?

The start-up and operation of DC furnaces for ferrochrome and titania slag but also ferronickel and ferrocobalt have proven again and again to be more challenging than anticipated. A combination of few furnaces in operation, a limitation on shared operational experience, quick response times between operational decisions and consequences, and a limited fundamental understanding of process mechanisms is a part of the causes for the results. Understanding the process chemistry, energy balance, and interactions between them is fundamental to investigating the mechanisms taking place in a DC furnace. As part of a PhD investigation of process mechanisms and behaviour of DC ferrochrome furnaces, this paper will describe the potential operational consequences of ignoring something as basic as the formation enthalpy of reductants. Only one of many pitfalls, reductant is used as an example to demonstrate that fundamental understanding of process chemistry is required for designing, operating, and studying DC furnaces. Only with at least an understanding of process chemistry it can be possible to connect operational experiences to process mechanisms. The paper will conclude with a brief discussion of the presented results, and how these relate to the PhD study.