High purity iron
Overview
Iron typically contains elements such as Mn, P, C, O, and S other than iron. Therefore, what has been regarded as the property of iron up to now is not the original property of iron, but can be considered as the property of iron alloys containing these elements other than iron. The reduction of these impurities can bring out the original characteristics of iron itself. It is confirmed that high purity iron has specific enhanced properties including ductility, corrosion resistance, and workability compared to parent metals [1]. High purity iron is a promising material for the application to development of new materials optimizing these properties.
Production method
Refining processes for high purity iron are typically classified as wet process and dry process. VOD (vacuum oxygen decarburization), and ESR (electro-slag remelting) are known as dry process. VOD is a process of melting pure iron in a vacuum and degassing, and then ESR method is a process of dripping the molten metal refining pure iron as an electrode. As wet process, an anode (raw material) and a cathode (base plate) are immersed into an electrolyte including iron ions. In addition, current flows between the anode and the cathode. As a result, iron is deposited on the surface of the cathode, and high purity iron can be obtained. The electrolysis of iron as the raw material of an anode is called electrolytic refining, and then high purity iron produced by this electrolytic refining is called electrolytic iron. TOHO ZINC CO.,LTD. is producing and selling electrolytic iron as high purity iron refined by the wet process on an industrial scale. TOHO ZINC CO.,LTD. accounts for the top market share of high purity iron in wet process.
Application
High purity iron produced by dry process is mainly applied to high grade stainless steel and gas turbines of generators. Electrolytic iron, high purity iron produced by wet process, is applied to landing gears, engine shafts in jet aircrafts as the parent metal, where safety is required. Alloys with high purity iron as parent material offer an improvement in fatigue strength. Therefore, high purity iron is also added to Ni-base alloys and Cu-base alloys. It is also used in research and development, special alloys, sputtering targets. Moreover, it is used as a raw material for the swords of traditional Japanese technique.
Prospect
Iron has been a familiar metal to humankind for a long time and has been applied to a lot of purposes. The development of metal refining technology and analysis technology make it possible to produce high purity iron on an industrial scale. High purity iron is a promising material for the application to development of new materials optimizing these characteristics.
References
- ↑ "electrolytic iron business". TOHO ZINC CO.,LTD. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
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