ferric iron compound

chemistry

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formation on Earth

  • In geologic history of Earth: Formation of the secondary atmosphere

    …had to be converted to ferric iron, which is highly insoluble, before it could be precipitated as iron formations. In short, the organisms produced the oxygen and the iron formations accepted it. Iron formations can be found in the earliest sediments (those deposited 3.8 billion years ago) at Isua in…

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use in pottery glaze

  • Hohokam pottery
    In pottery: Painting

    The colours obtained from ferric iron range from pale yellow to black, the most important being a slightly orange red, referred to as iron red. Ferrous iron yields a green that can be seen at its best on Chinese celadon wares. Manganese gives colours varying from the bright red…

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ferroalloy, an alloy of iron (less than 50 percent) and one or more other metals, important as a source of various metallic elements in the production of alloy steels. The principal ferroalloys are ferromanganese, ferrochromium, ferromolybdenum, ferrotitanium, ferrovanadium, ferrosilicon, ferroboron, and ferrophosphorus. These are brittle and unsuitable for direct use in fabricating products, but they are useful sources of these elements for the alloy steels. Ferroalloys usually have lower melting ranges than the pure elements and can be incorporated more readily in the molten steel. They are added to liquid steel to achieve a specified chemical composition and provide properties needed to make particular products. They are in fact used in all steels—e.g., plain carbon, stainless, alloy, electrical, tool, and so on.

Ferroalloys are prepared from charges of the nonferrous metal ore, iron or iron ore, coke or coal, and flux by treatment at high temperature in submerged-arc electric furnaces. An aluminothermic reduction process is used for making ferrovanadium, ferrotitanium, and ferroniobium (ferrocolumbium).

China, Kazakhstan, India, South Africa, and Russia are the world’s largest producers of ferroalloys.

A map of the continent of Asia, including its countries, boundaries, and capital cities, as well as parts of Europe, Africa, and surrounding oceans.
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Asia: Ferroalloy metals
This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.