Rapid and Sustainable Ferrochrome Production from Chromite Ore by Hydrogen Plasma Smelting Reduction
Tandersen D. Taimullah A. Islam I. Hakim B. Makhambetov Y. Hendrawan Y. Hidayat T. Zulhan Z.
July 2025Springer
Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing
2025#45Issue 41045 - 1062 pp.
Stainless steel is one of the most essential materials in daily life due to its corrosion-resistant properties. One of the vital metal components in stainless steel is chromium, which forms a protective layer on the surface of stainless steel when exposed to air. The chromium used in stainless steel production typically comes from ferrochrome, produced through chromite ores carbothermic reduction. This production process results in CO2 emissions of 5.4 tCO2-eq/t ferrochrome. Hydrogen plasma smelting reduction (HPSR) has emerged as a critical area of contemporary research and development to achieve more sustainable metal production. Here, we show that HPSR can produce ferrochrome containing 50% chromium from chromite ore within 6 min. The ferrochrome produced contains no carbon, which means that no AOD (argon oxygen decarburization) converter nor VOD (vacuum oxygen decarburization) is required for stainless steel manufacturing, which leads to a shorter process route and more sustainable stainless steelmaking.
Chromite , Ferrochrome , Hydrogen plasma smelting reduction , Sustainable
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Metallurgical Engineering Department, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesa No. 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia
Zh. Abishev Chemical-Metallurgical Institute, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Metallurgical Engineering Department
Zh. Abishev Chemical-Metallurgical Institute
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Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026