Aluminothermic reaction

For the production of iron, a cheaper reducing agent, coke, is used instead via the carbothermic reaction.

Aluminothermy started from the experiments of Russian scientist Nikolay Beketov at the University of Kharkiv in Ukraine, who proved that aluminium restored metals from their oxides under high temperatures.

The runaway reaction made it possible to produce only small quantities of material.

The aluminothermic reaction is used for the production of several ferroalloys, for example ferroniobium from niobium pentoxide and ferrovanadium from iron, vanadium(V) oxide, and aluminium.

Another common use is the welding of copper cables (wire) for use in direct burial (grounding/earthing) applications.