Experimental investigation on the reduction of manganese ore by sub-bituminous coal

Manganese alloys are used in steel industry as deoxidizing, desulfurizing and alloying agents. The alloys are commonly produced through high temperature reduction by using coke as reductant with the addition of fluxes / additives. A series of experiments have been performed to investigate the reduction behavior of manganese ore using sub-bituminous coal without the presence of flux. The reduction experiments were carried out at maximum holding temperatures between 1450, 1500 and 1550 °C. The macroscopic appearances, microscopic features and chemical compositions of the reduction products were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS). The influences of coal addition and maximum holding temperatures on the reduction products were discussed and compared to those calculated using FactSage thermodynamic software. The results showed that the manganese alloy can be formed through a fluxless high temperature reduction by utilizing sub-bituminous coal as a cost-effective reductant.