In ferronickel, both blast furnace smelting and electric furnace smelting will produce impurities such as S, P, SI and C, and some of them will also contain impurities such as copper and titanium due to different minerals. Because ferronickel is mainly used in stainless steel smelting, the amount of impurities will affect the performance and quality level of stainless steel. Generally speaking, the lower the impurity, the better, but if you want to get high quality ferronickel, you must refine it.
Classification of ferronickel:
Ferronickel is generally classified according to grade, that is, nickel content. The popular classification method in China is to divide ferronickel into blast furnace ferronickel and electric furnace ferronickel according to smelting equipment, in which the grade of ferronickel in blast furnace is generally low, and the nickel content in most cases is below 8%, and that in electric furnace ferronickel is generally above 8%.
The use of ferronickel is the biggest use of ferronickel as stainless steel charge. As a substitute for nickel, in general, 200 series stainless steel can directly use low-grade ferronickel, while 300 series stainless steel can use more than 8% ferronickel.
The quality of ferronickel depends not only on its nickel content, that is, taste, but also on its harmful impurities.