The Production of Ferromanganese
by Rex T. Hooper
Although much of the world's
production of high carbon ferroman-
ganese is in blast furnaces, the
smelting of manganese in electric
furnaces is increasing in popularity,
particularly in recent years, and is
by far the favored method provided
that regular supplies of electric
power are available at reasonably
low cost.
The electric furnace has many
distinct advantages over the blast
furnace for the smelting of standard
ferromanganese. The operation of
the electric furnace is easier and,
with increased flexibility, consider-
ably less coke is required and the
purity of the alloy is higher. There
is also the possibility of using lower
grades of ores and reducing agents
and the recovery of manganese from
the ore is higher, especially when
the slag produced is subsequently
used in the manufacture of silico-
manganese.
This paper deals with the electric
smelting of high carbon ferroman-
ganese and is based on the Aus-
tralian production of standard alloy
containing 78% manganese in the
Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical
Co.'s plant (Fig. 1) at Bell Bay,
Tasmania, using large closed ro-
tating Elkem furnaces. The man-
ganese ore being smelted in this
plant is mainly from Groote
Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpen-
taria in Northern Australia. It is
intended to cover various aspects of
furnace operation with emphasis on
the metallurgical control of the
smelting process.
FERROMANGANESE FURNACE
To produce standard ferroman-
ganese with high electrical and me-
tallurgical efficiencies and the pre-
vention of atmospheric pollution by
fume, a well designed closed electric
furnace is necessary.
Very satisfactory results have
been obtained in Australia with
smelting different types of man-
ganese ore from various sources in
two Elkem closed rotating furnaces,
each operated at up to 13,000 kw.
These furnaces were especially de-
signed by Elektrokemisk A/S of
Norway for the production of fer-
romanganese. The first furnace was
commissioned early in 1962 and the
second furnace late in 1966.
REX T. HOOPER is manager, Tasmanian
Electro Metallurgical Co. Pty. Ltd., Bell Bay,
Tasmania, Australia.
SS-JOURNAL OF METALS, MAY 1968
The furnaces, each having a
nominal rating of 16,000 kva, are
some 33 ft in diam and 17ft deep
and are equipped with 56-in. diam
Soderberg electrodes. The charge is
proportioned by automatic batch
weighers and elevated to feed bins
by a telpher common to both fur-
naces.
While ferromanganese furnaces
should be of specialist design for
most satisfactory operation and
highest efficiency, certain features
which are of importance to the oper-
ator are worthy of mention.
Due to the relatively low electri-
cal resistivity of ferromanganese
charge, consisting mainly of man-
ganese ore and coke, low voltages
between electrodes are necessary to
maintain satisfactory penetration of
the electrodes in the charge. In large
furnaces the amperages in the bus-
bars and the electrodes are there-
fore very high and, unless particular
attention is paid to design, the power
factors of the furnaces are lowered
considerably.
The vapor pressure of manganese
is high and considerable volatiliza-
tion losses in smelting may result
if special precautions are not taken
to prevent overheating. To avoid ab-
normally high concentration of heat
in the smelting zones, the current
densities on the electrodes should be
low compared with other ferroalloy
furnaces and, since the amperages
are high with low voltage, the elec-
trodes must be of large diameter.
The dimensions of the furnace
body in relation to power input are
generally much greater for ferro-
manganese than for the other ton-
nage ferro alloys and electric furnace
products. A large diameter and a
thick lining of the hearth are essen-
tial for a long life of the lining.
Since manganese has a high affinity
for carbon, erosion of the bottom
tends to be high initially but if ven-
tilation of the shell is adequate the
furnace may operate ultimately on
a bottom of partially frozen alloy.
Opinions vary on the merits of
the rotating hearth design for ferro-
manganese in the larger units and,
while satisfactory results may be
achieved with a stationary furnace,
it is often considered that rotation
of the hearth is beneficial under
certain conditions. It is desirable
that the furnace be capable of being
rotated when required.
With the introduction of clean air
regulations in most countries the
closing with covers of ferroman-
ganese furnaces is essential for the
prevention of the escape of man-
ganese fume. To prevent atmos-
pheric pollution and utilize the re-
duction gas for plant heating an
efficient gas cleaning system is ne-
cessary to remove fume and dust
from the furnace gases.
CHEMISTRY OF ELECTRIC
FERROMANGANESE SMELTING
As in all smelting processes, the
reactions that take place in the elec-
tric ferromanganese furnace may be
complex and variable.
The major reactions, however,
may be expressed as simple chemi-
cal equations, the order of which
varies to some extent depending on
the operating conditions of the fur-
nace. For example, with good oper-
ating conditions and a charge of high
porosity which is conducive to good
distribution of reduction gas through
the charge, a considerable amount
of reduction of the higher oxides
with carbon monoxide takes place.
This is reflected in an increase in
the carbon dioxide content of the
furnace gas and results in a lower
requirement of electric power for
smelting.
Apart from the reduction of iron
and other minor elements, the for-
mation of manganese metal starts
with the decomposition and reduc-
tion of manganese dioxide, the man-
ganese in most oxide ores being
present mainly as the 4-valent ion.
With carbon and carbon monoxide
reduction of manganese dioxide the
reactions may be expressed simply
as:
MnO. + C = MnO + CO [1]
MnO. + CO = MnO + CO 2 [2]
The reduction with carbon is
slightly endothermic while the re-
duction with carbon monoxide is
strongly exothermic.
Since the higher oxides dissociate
at temperature and reduction is
largely with solid carbon, the re-
action may be expressed as:
Manganese dioxide dissociates to
manganic oxide above 400°C.
4MnO. = 2Mn.Os +O 2 [3]
Manganic oxide dissociates to
manganous oxide at 950°C.
6Mn.Os = 4MnsO. + 02 [4]
Manganous oxide is converted to
manganese monoxide by the time
that the furnace smelting tempera-
ture of 1200° to 1400°C is reached.
2MnsO. = 6MnO +O 2 [5]
 S,·,·,.·H:HB
Flow dia ram of Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company Plant, Bell Bay, Tasmania .
Reduction of manganese mon-
oxide with solid carbon produces
metallic manganese and manganese
carbide.
MnO + C = Mn + CO [6]
6MnO + 8C = 2MnaC + 600 [7]
Liberated oxygen combines with
carbon to form carbon monoxide. It
also combines with carbon monoxide
to form carbon dioxide.
2C + O. = 2CO [8 ]
2CO + O. = 2CO, [9]
With favorable furnace operating
conditions, some of the higher man-
ganese oxides are reduced to lower
oxides with carbon monox ide, com-
parable with iron oxide reduction in
the electric pig iron furnace, but the
reduction of manganese monoxide
with carbon monoxide does not
occur in practice. These reactions
may be expressed as:
2MnO. + CO = Mn.O. + CO. [10]
3Mn.03 + CO = 2MnaO. + CO,
[11]
MnaO. + CO = 3MnO + CO. [12]
Some carbon dioxide combines
with carbon to regenerate carbon
monoxide.
co. + C = 2CO [13]
Most of the phosphorus contained
in the ore is reduced with carbon
and enters the alloy but sulfur is
mostly lost in the slag and the fur-
nace gas.
2P,0. + 10C = 4P + lOCO [14]
Equations 9 and 13 are of interest
as they are the means by which
oxides may be reduced by solid car-
bon without direct contact, the car-
bon monoxide and the carbon diox-
ide being the gaseous medium be-
tween carbon, oxygen and oxide.
Thus, when manganese ore is
Fig. I-Flow diagram of the plant.
smelted with coke in the electric
furnace, manganese, iron, phos-
phorus and some silicon are reduced
to produce the elemental metals
which mix and alloy in the hearth
of the furnace. At the same time
some complex carbides of man-
ganese and iron are also formed.
SMELTING OF LUMP OXIDE ORE VS.
SINTER
Practically all ferro manganese
plants use only raw lump oxide ores.
Little sinter is used and possibly
few operators have had experience
with smelting sintered manganese
ore.
Manganese ore fines may be read-
ily sintered to produce a hard sinter
which has ex cellent physical prop-
erties, and during sintering the man-
ganese content is raised by the ig-
nition loss. At the sintering tem-
perature, manganese dioxide, the
principal constituent of oxide ore,
is dissociated and converted to the
manganous oxide Ml1:JO •.
One would expect that the pre-
reduction or lower state of oxidation
of sinter would result in less electric
power being required for smelting
compared with an oxide ore in
which the manganese is present in
the highest state of oxidation. How-
ever, it is generally agreed that, in
practice, the smelting of manganese
sinter requires additional power and
Australian experience indicates an
increase of as much as 10% for a
high sinter burden.
The increased power requirement
for smelting sinter is attributed to
the heats of reaction and may be
explained by considering the reac-
tions which take place when the
oxides of manganese are reduced
by carbon and car bon monoxide to
the lower states of oxidation.
The heats of the reactions, all of
which are exothermic, may be ex-
pressed approximately as units of
electric power per ton of ferroman-
ganese.
1. Carbon reduction.
2MnO. + C =
Mn.O. + CO + 100 kwh
3Mn.0 3 +C =
2MnaO. + CO + 10 kwh
2. Carbon monoxide reduction.
2MnO. + CO =
Mn.0. + CO. + 240 kwh
3Mn.o. + CO =
2Ml1:J0. + 00. + 130 kwh
It is apparent that the prereduc-
tion of the higher oxides in the
sintering process results in the loss
to the furnace of the exothermic
reactions of reducing MnO. to
Mn,O, and Mn,O. to MnaO., this
heat being quite appreciable and is
therefore an explanation of the ad-
ditional power required for smelting
sinter.
Although the smelting of a high
proportion of sinter increases the
power consumption there seems to
be no appreciable increase with only
small amounts of up to 20 % in the
charge. The reason is possibly that
a sm all proportion of sinter blended
with ore increases the porosity of
the charge and results in improved
gas distribution, the beneficial effect
of which tends to counteract any
increase in power for reduction of
the sinter.
MANGANESE SLAGS
Silica, contained in the ore and
the ash of the coke, forms a slag
of silicates with manganese and the
basic oxides, incorporating certain
other charge impurities such as
alumina. If limestone or dolomite is
introduced or increased in the
charge, the calcium and magnesium
ox ides tend to displace manganese
oxide from the silicate and enable
the content of manganese in the
slag to be reduced.
Ferromanganese may be smelted
with manganese contents of the slag
MAY 1968, JOURNAL OF METALS-89