HERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF MOLYBDENITE IN A PLASMA REACTOR AND PREPARATION OF FERRO-MOLYBDENUM

A brief review on thermal decomposition of molybdenite is presented. Studies on experimental investigations on thermal decomposition of molybdenite and preparation of ferro-molybdenum in a plasma reactor have been made. It has been possible to show that the decomposition product is molybdenum before its conversion to carbide because of the presence of carbon in the experimental setup. Influence of various process parameters on recovery of molybdenum is presented in detail. Ferroalloy containing about 50 wt % molybdenum has been prepared and a flow sheet for preparation of ferro-molybdenum is presented.