Calcium carbide by Alzchem - the all-rounder in secondary metallurgy
Not all steel is the same: in principle, the versatile and almost ubiquitous metal always consists of iron and a small amount of carbon. Various further accompanying alloying elements significantly influence the material properties. However, there are many processing methods to produce steel from pig iron. What they all have in common is that the very specific quality of the end product is determined by the post-treatment, the so-called secondary metallurgy.
The main focus in secondary metallurgy is to effectively reduce the levels of quality-reducing by-products such as sulfur and oxygen. This is where calcium carbide comes into play: Thanks to its high affinity for oxygen and sulfur, calcium carbide is used as a highly efficient agent in various secondary metallurgy applications. As a strong reducing agent, it is particularly suitable for desulfurization and deoxidation - where low sulfur and oxygen content are specified - of steel, as well as excellent for slag treatment.
For deoxidation and desulfurization, calcium carbide is added as a fine powder; however, for slag treatment, the active ingredient shows its highest efficiency in a coarser form.
The advantages of calcium carbide in secondary metallurgy at a glance:
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high potential for cost savings
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improved metal purity due to efficient deoxidation and desulfurization
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reduced consumption of synthetic slag and other slag formers
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recovery of oxidized metals such as chromium, manganese, silicon, iron
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rapid reduction of aggressive furnace slag and thus longer service life of refractory materials
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minimum sulfur content and high sulfur capacity of the slag
Alzchem offers further products based on calcium carbide. These products are CaD® for desulfurization of pig iron as well as CalciPro®, developed for Calcium-treatment via cored wire. In addition, we have in our product portfolio for the steel industry Calzot®: this product is based on calcium cyanamide and is used for alloying nitrogen.
Contact
Dagmar Stitzl
About Alzchem
Alzchem is a globally active specialty chemicals company that is predominantly among the market leaders in its fields of activity. Alzchem benefits in particular from the three very different global developments of climate change, population growth and longer life expectancy. In order to achieve the resulting social goals, Alzchem products can offer attractive solutions with a wide range of different applications.
The company sees interesting growth prospects for itself especially in the areas of human and animal nutrition and agriculture. As a result of population growth, it is necessary to achieve efficient food production. Pharmaceutical raw materials and our creatine products can contribute to healthy aging as life expectancy increases. Alzchem is facing up to the goal of sustainability arising from climate change in the field of renewable energies and across the entire company. The fields of fine chemicals and metallurgy offer just as great a perspective.
The broad product range of Alzchem Group AG includes dietary supplements, precursors for corona tests and pharmaceutical raw materials. These products are our company’s response to global trends and developments. Alzchem is ideally positioned in this regard and sees itself as well equipped for an environmentally oriented future and global developments.
The company employs around 1,630 people at four production sites in Germany and one plant in Sweden, as well as two sales companies in the USA and China. In 2020, Alzchem generated consolidated sales of around EUR 379 million and EBITDA of around EUR 53.8 million.