Iron powder is one of the basic raw materials for the powder metallurgy industry. The annual output of iron powder in the world is about 850,000 tons. 85% of the output of water atomized pure iron powder is used for the manufacture of powder metallurgy parts, of which 70% to 83% of the powder. Metallurgical parts are used in the automotive industry. The remaining iron powder is used in chemical, magnetic materials, cutting, welding rods, heating materials, etc.

1.1 Production (1) North America (QMP in Canada, Haguenas in the US, Haguenas in Sweden, and 20,000t each in water atomization and reduced iron powder of Brazil, MPP metal powder manufacturing company) t. (2) 14 to 150,000 tons in Europe. Sweden's Haguenas is the main, followed by Quebec, Russia's 50,000t, Romania's 3500t, and Italy's 4500t. (3) Et is 180,000 to 200,000 tons, of which 40,000 tons are exported. Except for Et in Asia, 4000t in India, Taiwan, China, and South Korea and Singapore, there are no reports of industrial production of iron powder.

1.2 General trend of varieties and specifications: The iron powder reduced with concentrate powder is stable at the current scale, and the output of water atomized iron powder is expanding. (1) North America: Of the 340,000 tons of iron powder, only the total reduction iron powder produced by Pailong and Brazil is about 50,000 tons, and the rest are water atomized iron powder. (2) Europe: Only 30,000 t of the 140,000 t iron powder is reduced iron powder. (3) Et: Among the 15t iron powder used in China, the reduced iron powder produced by "Kawasaki" and "Tonghe" is currently more than about 20,000t. The consumption of reduced iron powder used to make oil-containing bearings is more than 7,000t in the United States and Et.

2 Domestic iron powder production profile

2.1 According to the statistics of 28 domestic iron powder factories, the annual output of iron powder is 116,000 tons, including 26,000 tons of water atomized iron powder (including 10,000 tons of Shanghai Hignas), and 90,000 tons of reduced iron powder. The total output of iron powder accounts for about 1/8 of the total output of iron powder in the world. The domestic iron powder production capacity has reached 150,000 tons, of which the water atomized iron powder production capacity is 60,000 tons: Laiwu Powder Metallurgy Company 40,000 tons, Anshan Iron and Steel Powder Material 10,000 tons, Jiande Yitong 6000t, Shanghai Hegenus (3600t reduction Powder capacity + 10,000 t of wool powder) 120,000 t of reduced iron powder production capacity, 90,000 t of reduced iron powder production capacity excluding the yurt inversion kiln, and 4 of them with over 10,000 tons (Laigang, Wuhan Iron and Steel, Maanshan Iron and Steel, Linli ).

2.2 Different domestic iron powders have different specifications and structures. 116,000 tons of iron powder, water atomized powder accounts for only 25,000 tons (of which 10,000 tons were introduced by Shanghai Hegenus for wool powder. Material), and China's national conditions and the specific development of the powder industry. The reduced iron powder in the 90,000 t reduced iron powder is 17,000 t. Iron scales reduced more than 70,000 tons of iron powder.

3 Development Trend of Iron Powder Production at Home and Abroad

3.1 Production World iron powder production in the past ten years With the development of economic technology, fluctuations in the development of the automobile industry, the overall trend has increased steadily, with a passive range of 8% to 10%, with peaks reaching 850,000 tons and troughs 780,000 tons. However, the amount of powder metallurgy parts used in bicycles is increasing. Although the output of automobiles is fluctuating, the total output of iron powder will not be less than 850,000 tons, and there will be surplus capacity before no new process appears. The output of iron powder in China is expected to reach 150,000 tons in the past 5 to 7 years. Based on the following considerations: First, with the development of the automotive industry, the weight of domestic powder metallurgy parts for each vehicle and bicycle should rise from about 3.6 kg to 5 or so. Secondly, the application of powder metallurgy parts in the automotive industry should be increased from about 42% to about 55%, and the application of magnetic materials should be 20,000 tons, and the export volume should be 1.5 to 20,000 tons.

3.2 Variety specifications

3.2.1 Improve the comprehensive performance of iron powder, and develop new products based on the performance requirements of powder metallurgy products. For example, in order to increase the density and strength of powder metallurgy parts, nickel, copper, chromium, molybdenum and other elements have been added. Health, research continues to deepen. The performance of Sweden's Helganas chromium-containing diffusion alloy powder is very good, currently not available in China. In order to improve the uniformity of the green density and improve the product pressing process, the pre-mixed powder is currently maturing. The warm-pressing process has made the research of special powder for warm-pressing a big step. With the development of powder forging technology, the powder for powder forging has matured. Particularly noteworthy is the study of powder lubricants, lubricants for warm-pressing, mold wall lubrication, and improving the strength of the failure, Sweden, QMP have been successfully developed. The compacted strength has exceeded 40MPa and can be machined. As the output of iron powder is mainly water atomized iron powder, there is more research and development work on it, and there is not much research on the performance improvement of reduced iron powder.

3.2.2 Due to the development history and national conditions of domestic powder metallurgy in China, the amount of high-strength and high-density parts currently produced in China is not large, mainly due to the technology and development capabilities of powder metallurgy products. For example, it is reported that GKN is put into production every year There are 500 new powder metallurgy products, but less than 50 in China. Most of the domestic production of low and medium density parts (including oil-bearing bearings). Therefore, reduced iron powder still occupies the main iron powder market in China, which is exactly the opposite. The reduction of iron powder in the next few years is an important part of the development and research of China's iron powder industry. Because the powder particles of water atomized iron powder are dense, high in purity, good in compressibility, and easy to alloy, it can manufacture powder metallurgy parts with high and medium strength and density, and it is being promoted in China, especially pre-mixed powder. Last year, 24 thousand tons, 85% of which were pre-mixed powder. This year QMP built another 20,000 t-level powder mixing station in Suzhou with an investment of 20 million US dollars. The promotion of water atomized iron powder is a general trend. However, the reduced iron powder has more than 90,000 tons, accounting for 80% of the current market. This is a problem not encountered, but also a problem with Chinese characteristics. The development direction of reduced iron powder is:

(1) Improve purity and retain high compressibility, solve the structural problem of inclusion accumulation, and adapt to the use of medium-strength parts.

(2) Due to the limitation of the manufacturing process, how to increase the loose packing density on the premise of ensuring high compressibility.

(3) Due to the decreasing number of qualified iron scales and mixed chemical components, for example: Wuhan Iron and Steel also has only 18,000 tons of iron scales that can produce reduced powder. It is necessary to promote the reduction of concentrated iron powder to reduce iron powder. As a result, the stability of iron powder is improved, and the development of concentrated iron powder to reduce iron powder is the current domestic direction.