Electrochemical Reduction of K 2 MoO 4 –Fe 2 O 3 Binary Melts Using a Consumable Steel Electrode to Produce Ferromolybdenum Alloys

Ferromolybdenum is widely used for high temperature alloys and stainless steels. Traditionally, the aluminothermic reaction is used to manufacture ferromolybdenum, but results in volatile species of molybdite (MoO 3 ) reducing productivity. This work presents an electrochemical method using a consumable steel electrode under Ar to produce ferromolybdenum from electrolysis in the K 2 MoO 4 -10 mol%Fe 2 O 3 binary melt to minimize the volatilization of molybdite at 1273 K. After completion of the electrochemical reaction, the produced ferromolybdenum was easily separated by using distilled water, where the average molar ratio of Fe/Mo was 1.5. At the optimal conditions of the present work, the current efficiency was estimated to be 70.77% with an energy consumption of 15,616.7 kWh/Fe–Mo ton in this system. Graphical Abstract