Kushal Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd based in Bhilai in the Indian state of Chharttirgarh, has recently built a water atomisation plant to produce iron powders said to be suitable for Powder Metallurgy (PM) and other applications such as welding, gas cutting, briquetting, etc.

The plant has a current capacity of 3,500 tonnes/year using an Electrotherm India induction melting furnace having 500 kg capacity with two crucibles giving a capacity of 10 tonnes/day.

Yash Chopda, Director of Kushal Ferro Alloys, told Powder Metallurgy Review that water atomisation capacity can easily be increased to 7,000 tonnes/year by using a one tonne induction melting furnace. The company uses a Fluidtherm furnace capable of annealing 300 kg/hour of water atomised iron powders.

The company is now seeking technology partners to further develop the water atomisation plant which currently employs 20 people. The compressibility of the PM grade of iron powder (99% purity) with irregular shape produced by Kushal Ferro Alloys is said to reach 7.0 g/cm3 green density at a compaction pressure of 600 MPa. The company has also developed water atomised stainless steel powder.