Technology Innovations in the Smelting of Chromite Ore

The increasing costs of electric energy and thus the need to reduce the energy required to produce ferrochrome from chromite ore have spurred the innovations in the technologies used for smelting chromite ore. These technologies (Conventional smelting process, Outokumpu process, DC arc route, and Premus process) have been reviewed in this work. Premus process has been found to be the lowest-cost and most energy-efficient ferrochrome smelting technology. The process is designed to reduce electrical energy consumption during smelting by partly reducing pelletized chromite ores in a rotary kiln using energy obtained from coal pulverization and hot gases generated from the closed submerged arc furnace. It also provides high recoveries of ferrochrome and utilizes low cost reductant sources such as anthracite. Keywords: Chromite ore, Ferrochrome, Submerged arc furnace, Outokumpo, Premuse