Abstract
Bio-based reductants seem like a viable short term option for the ferromanganeseFerro manganese industry to meet the 2030 expectations for CO2 emission reduction. The objective of this work has been to investigate if it is possible to determine the share of bio-based reductants used to produce an alloy by using radiocarbon (14C isotope) method to analyze the carbon in the alloy. With a half-life of 5700 years, basically all 14C has decayed in ancient organic materials, while biogenic materials have the same 14C concentration as today’s atmosphere. Determination of the 14C concentration of the carbon in a sample, as percent modern carbon, is a measure of the proportion of biogenic carbon. The future use could be a basis for certification of a product and/or customer product validation. The results show that the biocarbonBiocarbon share used in the production of the HC FeMnFeMn alloy is reflected in the analytical results. © The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2025.