Alphametals

Manganese Alloys

Manganese is a silver metallic element with an atomic number of 25 and a chemical symbol of Mn. It is not found as an element in nature. It occurs in many minerals such as manganite, sugilite, purpurite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, and pyrolusite. It is also found in many mineraloids such as psilomelane and wad.

Commonly, bulk manganese alloys are produced in three-phase submerged arc furnaces, which have a three-electrode (Søderberg type, or self-baking) circular or a six-electrode rectangular geometry.

PROPERTIES OF MANGANESE ALLOY

Manganese serves as an important alloying agent. Many different types of manganese alloys are available in the market today, including ferro manganese alloys, copper manganese alloys, high manganese alloys, and nickel manganese alloys, to name a few.

Manganese and iron are the main components of ferromanganese alloys. A ferroalloy containing approximately 80% manganese is used in steelmaking. Carbon ferromanganese, metallic manganese, metallic manganese, and purified, nitrided ferromanganese are some of the other types of ferromanganese alloys.

High-manganese alloys provides a favorable combination and balance of properties like ductility, formability, strain hardening, and strength level parameters, which enables reducing the weight of vehicles and at the same time improves resistance against the effects of automobile accidents.

The main product of the smelting process is a carbon-saturated ferroalloy consisting of 76 to 80% manganese, 12 to 15% of iron, 7.5% of carbon, and 1.2% of silicon. 70 to 80% of the manganese is recovered in the melt, and a slag consisting of 30 to 42% manganese is also achieved.

USES OF MANGANESE ALLOY

Manganese is used also as an alloy with metals such as aluminum and copper. Important nonmetallurgical uses include battery cathodes, soft ferrites used in electronics, micronutrients in fertilizers, micronutrients in animal feed, water treatment chemicals, colorant for automobile undercoating, bricks, frits, glass, textiles, and tiles. The product “manganese violet” is used for the coloration of plastics, powder coatings, artist glazes, and cosmetics.