Manufacturing Technology 2020, 20(5):655-659

Microstructure of the Alloys Prepared by Reduction of Deep Sea Nodules by Aluminium and Silicon

Pavel Novák, Jakub Vlášek, Petr Dvořák, Andrea Školáková, Kateřina Nová, Anna Knaislová

University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, Tech-nická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Deep sea nodules are considered as an alternative and very rich source of several metals. Up to pre-sent days, the processing of these polymetallic ores is cosidered to be carried out by the extraction of individual metals. This work deals with the processing of the deep-sea nodules by metalothermic method by aluminium and silicon. The nodules are reduced complexely without the extraction of individual metals, forming the polymetallic alloys. Reduction was carried out in a small scale with the initiation in an electric resistance furnace. Microstructures of the formed alloys and the slag were described in dependence on the excess of the reduction agent against the stoichiometry. Even though both of the reduction agents are generally applicable, reduction by aluminium was proved to be more efficient and leads to more complex alloys.

Keywords: Deep sea nodules, Metallothermic reduction, Alloy, Microstructure

Grants and funding:

Czech Science Foundation, project No. 20-15217S.

Received: August 28, 2020; Revised: October 1, 2020; Accepted: October 12, 2020; Prepublished online: November 23, 2020; Published: December 14, 2020  Show citation