PROJECT

Crosimax – an innovative alloy of silicon with chromium, iron, aluminium and calcium, as a versatile and effective reducing agent of increased deoxidising potential towards Cr2O3 – to be applied in manufacturing of low and ultra-low carbon grades of ferro-chromium (POIR.01.01.01-00-0161/21)

Project objectives: 

The project objective is to manufacture an innovative product – the Crosimax alloy – of the minimum Si content of 60%, min. Cr – 21%, max. Al – 4%, max. Ca – 2%, max. C – 0.02% and the Cr/Fe ratio min. 2, a product which not produced anywhere else in the world now.
MAX VALUE OF ELIGIBLE COSTS OF THE PROJECT
PLN 12,167,458.50
MAX AMOUNT OF SUBSIDY
PLN 5,017,439.90
PLANNED DURATION OF THE PROJECT
from 01/10/2021 until 30/04/2023
Stages of the project:

STAGE 1 INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

  1. Akademia Górniczo – Hutnicza in Cracow, a subcontractor (hereinafter: AGH), to conduct a series of calculations and model simulations with the use of thermochemical bases and to perform theoretical analyses in order to compare physico-chemical properties of the Crosimax alloy and the base alloy – LC FeSiCr – produced by the Applicant with the use of measurement data from the current production of the alloy manufactured so far.
  2. AGH to manufacture three batches of the Crosimax alloys on a laboratory scale by melting the Applicant’s product – LC FeSiCr – with other reagents e.g. calcium silicon, silicon of technical grade and aluminium, in order to obtain samples of the Crosimax alloy of three different chemical compositions intended for laboratory tests of the scope specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 below.
  3. AGH to conduct a series of laboratory tests for the purpose of comparison including analyses of chemical composition, morphological phase composition and physical properties such as density, melting point or enthalpy of fusion of the obtained samples of the Crosimax alloys and the base alloy – FeSiCr – manufactured in the industrial environment of the Applicant.
  4. AGH to conduct laboratory-scale comparative melts of LC FeCr with the use of FeSiCr and the new group of the Crosimax alloys as a reducing agents in order to confirm their higher reducing power.
  5. The completion of the task will result in identification of three compositions of the Crosimax alloys for manufacturing tests on industrial scale on the Applicant’s existing production line.

STAGE 2 DEVELOPMENT WORKS

  1. Building a theoretical model of manufacturing process by way of thermodynamic and physico-chemical calculations enabling energy and material balance, as well as characteristics, direction and speed of the process, that is, the characteristics of the balance in multi-phase and compound materials, also of the conditions of the process of simultaneous reduction of silicon, aluminium and calcium oxides.
  2. Development of a manufacturing process scheme for the innovative versatile Crosimax alloy.

STAGE 3 DEVELOPMENT WORKS

Manufacturing tests of the innovative versatile Crosimax alloy in three variants being a reflection of the patterns developed by the Subcontractor at Stage 1.
Production of a reference batch of the new alloy.

STAGE 4 PRE-IMPLEMENTATION WORKS

Task 1
Patent application covering the method of the Crosimax alloy manufacturing in terms of enriching the feedstock mixture at the furnace phase.

Task 2
Preparation of documentation concerning a new manufacturing technology.

The project’s result:

An innovative versatile reducing agent of chromium trioxide – Crosimax – will be the project’s result. The alloy, having substantially higher reducing potential than FeSiCr grades used so far while maintaining low carbon content and other adverse substances, will be designed to be used in the manufacturing process of ultra-low carbon ferrochromium (ULC FeCr) and in the process of deoxidising of high-chromium ferritic and austenitic stainless steel which is widely used in the mechanical engineering or food industry, and above all, it is a main material for manufacturing of medical devices, from needles and vessels to surgical tools and parts of prosthetic devices.  Now, on the market there are FeSiCr alloys with the content of Si reaching the level of max. 50%, with the Cr content min. 28%, C content max. 0.1%, P content max. 0.03%, and S max.  0.02%

Source of financing:

The project is co-financed with the funds of the European Fund for Regional Development within the Submeasure 1.1.1 “Industrial research and development works implemented by enterprises” within the Smart Growth Operational Programme 2014-2020.