PRODUCTS

IRON ORE

Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red.

The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4), hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (FeO(OH)), limonite (FeO(OH).n(H2O)) or siderite (FeCO3).

Ores carrying very high quantities of hematite or magnetite are known as “natural ore” or “direct shipping ore”, meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces. Most reserves of such ore have now been depleted. Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel. 98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. Indeed, it has been argued that iron ore is “more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil”

SULFURIC ACID

Sulfuric acid (alternative spelling sulphuric acid) is a highly corrosive strong mineral acid with the molecular formula H2SO4. It is a pungent-ethereal, colorless to slightly yellow viscous liquid which is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sometimes, it is dyed dark brown during production to alert people to its hazards. The historical name of this acid is oil of vitriol.

Sulfuric acid is a diprotic acid and shows different properties depending upon its concentration. Its corrosiveness on other materials, like metals, living tissues (e.g. skin and flesh) or even stones, can be mainly ascribed to its strong acidic nature and, if concentrated, strong dehydrating and oxidizing property. Sulfuric acid at a high concentration can cause very serious damage upon contact, as it not only causes chemical burns via hydrolysis, but also secondary thermal burns via dehydration. It burns the cornea and can lead to permanent blindness if splashed onto eyes. Accordingly, safety precautions should be strictly observed when handling it. Moreover, it is hygroscopic, readily absorbing water vapors from the air.

Sulfuric acid has a wide range of applications including domestic acidic drain cleaner, electrolyte in lead-acid batteries and various cleaning agents. It is also a central substance in the chemical industry. Principal uses include mineral processing, fertilizer manufacturing, oil refining, wastewater processing, and chemical synthesis. It is widely produced with different methods, such as contact process, wet sulfuric acid process and some other methods.

MANGANESE

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature (often in combination with iron), and in many minerals. Manganese is a metal with important industrial metal alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels.

Manganese phosphate is used as a treatment for rust and corrosion prevention on steel. Depending on their oxidation state, manganese ions have various colors and are used industrially as pigments. The permanganates of alkali and alkaline earth metals are powerful oxidizers. Manganese dioxide is used as the cathode (electron acceptor) material in zinc-carbon and alkaline batteries.

REFINED FUEL PRODUCTS

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – Together propane and butane are known as LPG, which is stored in metal containers under pressure as a liquid. It is used for heating and cooking, especially when portability is needed – in camping stoves, for example, or on boats.
• Kerosene (paraffin) – Kerosene was the first major product to be refined from crude oil in the late 19th century. At that time it was mainly used for lighting in oil lamps. Today its main use is as jet aircraft fuel.
• Lubricating oils – Without lubricants, the world might not stop spinning but everything on it would grind to a halt. Lubricants have thousands of uses, from fixing squeaky doors to oiling industrial machines and automotive engines.
• Heavy fuel oils – These are used in large industrial boilers, in power stations for example, and to raise steam to drive turbines on ships.
• Bitumen – This is the heaviest product from the refinery. Essentially it’s what is left after everything else has been removed from the crude oil. When heated, it can be used in road construction and as a waterproofing material for roofs.

GYPSUM

Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dehydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4•2H2O. It can be used as a fertilizer, is the main constituent in many forms of plaster and is widely mined. A massive fine-grained white or lightly tinted variety of gypsum, called alabaster, has been used for sculpture by many cultures including Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, Byzantine empire and the Nottingham alabasters of medieval England. It is the definition of a hardness of 2 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite. Gypsum is used in a wide variety of applications:

• Gypsum board is primarily used as a finish for walls and ceilings, and is known in construction as drywall, sheetrock or plasterboard. Gypsum blocks are used like cement blocks in building construction.
• Gypsum mortar is an ancient mortar used in building construction.
• Gypsum is a plaster ingredient in surgical splints, casting molds and modeling.
• Fertilizer and soil conditioner: In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Nova Scotia gypsum, often referred to as plaster, was a highly sought fertilizer for wheat fields in the United States. It is also used in ameliorating high sodium soils.
• It is a binder in fast-dry tennis court clay.
• It was used as alabaster, a material for sculpture, especially in the ancient world before steel was developed, when its relative softness made it much easier to carve than stone with available tools.
• A wood substitute in the ancient world: For example, when wood became scarce due to deforestation on Bronze Age Crete, gypsum was emplo yed in building construction at locations where wood was previously used.
• A tofu (soy bean curd) coagulant, making it ultimately a major source of dietarycalcium, especially in Asian cultures which traditionally use few dairy products.
• Adding hardness to water used for home brewing.
• A component of Portland cement used to prevent flash setting of concrete.
• Soil/water potential monitoring (soil moisture tension).
• Used in mushroom cultivation to stop grains from clumping together.

COKING COAL AND COKE

Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven without oxygen at temperatures as high as 1,000 °C (1,832 °F), so the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together. Metallurgical coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. The result is pig iron, and is too rich in dissolved carbon, so it must be treated further to make steel. The coking coal should be low in sulfur and phosphorus, so they do not migrate to the metal.

The coke must be strong enough to resist the weight of overburden in the blast furnace, which is why coking coal is so important in making steel using the conventional route. However, the alternative route is direct reduced iron, where any carbonaceous fuel can be used to make sponge or pelletized iron. Coke from coal is grey, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu/ton (29.6 MJ/kg). Some coke making processes produce valuable byproducts, including coal tar, ammonia, light oils, and coal gas.

Petroleum coke is the solid residue obtained in oil refining, which resembles coke, but contains too many impurities to be useful in metallurgical applications.

COAL

Coal is a dense sedimentary rock, usually black, but sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material; it is used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation, with substantial quantities used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke.

SCRAP METAL FERROUS AND NONFERROUS

Ferrous Scrap is a substantial part of our raw material trading to both integrated and electric-arc-furnace steelmakers. In addition to processed grades, Rhino markets significant tonnages of prime industrial scrap and offers pig iron and other reduced-iron products to augment scrap in the melt mix.

Nonferrous scrap is an important component of our business. Our Suppliers produce a wide array of nonferrous scrap products to the exacting standards of our customers.

Our suppliers possess processing capabilities that include baling, shearing, briquetting, granulation, incineration, aluminum and lead sweating and secondary aluminum smelting. Our products are produced in an efficient yet environmentally sound manner. Every scrap generator and consumer is a customer, and we tailor our nonferrous services to meet customers’ needs.