Utilization of ashes obtained from leather shaving incineration as a source of chromium for the production of HC-FeCr alloy

This study is aimed at presenting the possibility of recycling chromium contained in ashes from leather shaving incineration (ALSI) and indicating its utility as raw material for the production of commercial high carbon ferrochrome alloy (HC-FeCr). Initially, a thermodynamic analysis was carried out for simulating the process of chromium oxide reduction to provide the basis and the most favorable conditions for the experiments. At the laboratory level, experiments were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of using chromium bearing ashes for the production of HC-FeCr alloy. The results demonstrated the possibility of producing HC-FeCr alloy from the ALSI by carbothermal reduction at a temperature of 1600 °C.