The Climax Molybdenum plant, Stowmarket

Introduction

The photograph on this page of The Climax Molybdenum plant, Stowmarket by David Lally as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

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The Climax Molybdenum plant, Stowmarket

Image: © David Lally Taken: 19 Mar 2008

Those of you who have watched the Brainiac - Science Abuse programs on Channel 4 will be aware of Thermite – a mixture of iron oxide and aluminium which when reacted is so exothermic (hot) that it will burn through just about anything (when I was at school it was called thermit, I've no idea why the e has been added since). This plant utilises a variation of that reaction to produce ferro-molybdenum (FeMo) for the alloy and stainless steel industry (molybdenum being a very important alloying element in many grades of steel adding some corrosion resistance and hardness). Molybdenum trioxide replaces the iron oxide and elemental silicon in the form of Ferro Silicon (FeSi) replaces the aluminium the reaction is therefore: 2MoO3 + 3Si = 2Mo + 3SiO2 Like the thermite reaction the temperature reaches in the region of 2500C. In the presence of iron, which takes no part in the main reaction, the result is FeMo at around 70% Mo by weight. Climax Molybdenum have mines in the US and plants across the world http://www.climaxmolybdenum.com/WorldwideLocations/UK_Stowmarket_new.htm . Molybdenum is pronounced mol-ib-den-um.

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