Aluminium dross recycling

Last updated
Aluminium dross Aluminium dross2.png
Aluminium dross

Aluminium dross, a byproduct of the aluminium smelting process, can be mechanically recycled to separate the residual aluminium metal from the aluminium oxide. [1] [2]

Contents

Thermo-mechanical metal extraction

The mechanical process of recycling does not use any toxic chemicals previously used in the process of extracting the valuable aluminium in the dross. [3]

Hot dross processing is a system whereby the majority of metal is recovered without chemically reducing the aluminium oxides. The dross is first crushed then separated into aluminium metal rich particles and aluminium oxide rich particles based on density. The metal rich particles are then melted in a furnace to remove the remaining oxide particles.[ citation needed ]

Mechanical extraction vs chemical

The recovery of aluminium metal from dross has traditionally caused severe environmental issue with highly alkaline waste waters, a waste product that is rich in waste flux and that evolves ammonia gas on contact with water and can spontaneously combust if allowed to get wet [4] A novel method developed in New Zealand claims to be an environmentally sensitive method, and is not toxic and different from previous methods which resulted in a concentrated highly toxic salt cake residue. [5]

An example of a recycling facility

An operating aluminium dross recycling plant (news coverage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_z8jlDgdCU [6] [7] [8]

Products that can be made with the residual

A variety of products can be made from the residual aluminium dross after it is recycled into aluminium oxide. See more information on aluminium oxide. [9] Aluminium oxide has a variety of industrial uses which includes being used in paint, dye, concrete, explosives, and fertilizer. [9] [10] [11]

Dross recycling is different

Aluminium dross recycling is a completely different process to strictly aluminium recycling. Aluminium recycling is where pure aluminium metal products (previously used in another form) are re-melted into aluminium ingots and then re-used to new aluminium products. [12] While aluminium dross recycling is where the dross, a byproduct of the smelting process in the creation of aluminium from bauxite, can be mechanically recycled thus separating the residual aluminium metal from the aluminium oxide. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium</span> Chemical element, symbol Al and atomic number 13

Aluminium is a chemical element; it has symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than that of other common metals; about one-third that of steel. It has a great affinity towards oxygen, forming a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, nonmagnetic, and ductile. It has one stable isotope: 27Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the twelfth-most common element in the universe. The radioactivity of 26Al is used in radiometric dating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slag</span> By-product of smelting ores and used metals

Slag is a by-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be classified as ferrous, ferroalloy or non-ferrous/base metals. Within these general categories, slags can be further categorized by their precursor and processing conditions.

The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the rest being a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide. The aluminium oxide must be further purified before it can be refined into aluminium metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scrap</span> Recyclable materials left over from manufactured products after their use

Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered metals, and non-metallic materials are also recovered for recycling. Once collected, the materials are sorted into types — typically metal scrap will be crushed, shredded, and sorted using mechanical processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dross</span> Impurities in molten metal

Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on a molten metal or dispersed in the metal, such as in wrought iron. It forms on the surface of low-melting-point metals such as tin, lead, zinc or aluminium or alloys by oxidation of the metal. For higher melting point metals and alloys such as steel and silver, oxidized impurities melt and float making them easy to pour off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial wastewater treatment</span> Processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product

Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater may be reused or released to a sanitary sewer or to a surface water in the environment. Some industrial facilities generate wastewater that can be treated in sewage treatment plants. Most industrial processes, such as petroleum refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants have their own specialized facilities to treat their wastewaters so that the pollutant concentrations in the treated wastewater comply with the regulations regarding disposal of wastewaters into sewers or into rivers, lakes or oceans. This applies to industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of organic matter, toxic pollutants or nutrients such as ammonia. Some industries install a pre-treatment system to remove some pollutants, and then discharge the partially treated wastewater to the municipal sewer system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petroleum coke</span> Solid carbon-rich material

Petroleum coke, abbreviated coke, pet coke or petcoke, is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining, and is one type of the group of fuels referred to as cokes. Petcoke is the coke that, in particular, derives from a final cracking process—a thermo-based chemical engineering process that splits long chain hydrocarbons of petroleum into shorter chains—that takes place in units termed coker units. Stated succinctly, coke is the "carbonization product of high-boiling hydrocarbon fractions obtained in petroleum processing ". Petcoke is also produced in the production of synthetic crude oil (syncrude) from bitumen extracted from Canada's tar sands and from Venezuela's Orinoco oil sands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium recycling</span> Reuse of scrap aluminium

Aluminium recycling is the process in which secondary aluminium is created from scrap or other forms of end-of-life or otherwise unusable aluminium. It involves re-melting the metal, which is cheaper and more energy-efficient than the production of aluminum from raw bauxite via electrolysis of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) during the Hall–Héroult and Bayer processes.

Aluminium in Africa originates from bauxite, and within Africa is primarily found in Guinea, Mozambique and Ghana. Guinea is by far the biggest producer in Africa, and is a world leader in bauxite production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemetco</span>

Chemetco was formerly one of the largest United States refiners of copper from recycled or residual sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium smelting</span> Process of extracting aluminium from its oxide alumina

Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter</span> Aluminium smelter in New Zealand

The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.

Copper slag is a by-product of copper extraction by smelting. During smelting, impurities become slag which floats on the molten metal. Slag that is quenched in water produces angular granules which are disposed of as waste or utilized as discussed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental effects of paper</span> Overview about the environmental effects of the paper production industry

The environmental effects of paper are significant, which has led to changes in industry and behaviour at both business and personal levels. With the use of modern technology such as the printing press and the highly mechanized harvesting of wood, disposable paper became a relatively cheap commodity, which led to a high level of consumption and waste. The rise in global environmental issues such as air and water pollution, climate change, overflowing landfills and clearcutting have all lead to increased government regulations. There is now a trend towards sustainability in the pulp and paper industry as it moves to reduce clear cutting, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel consumption and clean up its influence on local water supplies and air pollution.

An inclusion is a solid particle in liquid aluminium alloy. It is usually non-metallic and can be of different nature depending on its source.

Recycling can be carried out on various raw materials. Recycling is an important part of creating more sustainable economies, reducing the cost and environmental impact of raw materials. Not all materials are easily recycled, and processing recyclable into the correct waste stream requires considerable energy. Some particular manufactured goods are not easily separated, unless specially process therefore have unique product-based recycling processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lead smelting</span> Process of refining lead metal

Plants for the production of lead are generally referred to as lead smelters. Primary lead production begins with sintering. Concentrated lead ore is fed into a sintering machine with iron, silica, limestone fluxes, coke, soda ash, pyrite, zinc, caustics or pollution control particulates. Smelting uses suitable reducing substances that will combine with those oxidizing elements to free the metal. Reduction is the final, high-temperature step in smelting. It is here that the oxide becomes the elemental metal. A reducing environment pulls the final oxygen atoms from the raw metal.

Spent Potlining (SPL) is a waste material generated in the primary aluminium smelting industry. Spent Potlining is also known as Spent Potliner and Spent Cell Liner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red mud</span> Waste product from the production of alumina

Red mud, now more frequently termed bauxite residue, is an industrial waste generated during the processing of bauxite into alumina using the Bayer process. It is composed of various oxide compounds, including the iron oxides which give its red colour. Over 95% of the alumina produced globally is through the Bayer process; for every tonne of alumina produced, approximately 1 to 1.5 tonnes of red mud are also produced. Annual production of alumina in 2020 was over 133 million tonnes resulting in the generation of over 175 million tonnes of red mud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Hongqiao Group</span> Chinese company specializing in producing aluminum

China Hongqiao Group Limited is a company founded in 1994 that specializes in the production of aluminium. Hongqiao is currently the second largest aluminium producer in the world after Chinalco. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with stock code 1378, and is incorporated in George Town, Cayman Islands.

References

  1. "Institute of Materials Processing (IMP) | Materials Science & Engineering" (PDF). Imp.mtu.edu. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  2. "Taha Ons Dross Recycling Facility in New Zealand". Azom.com. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  3. "New Aluminium Dross Recycling Facility in New Zealand". Waste Management World. 2011-10-27. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  4. Mahinroosta, Mostafa; Allahverdi, Ali (26 Jun 2018). "Hazardous aluminum dross characterization and recycling strategies: A critical review". Journal of Environmental Management. 223 (223): 452–468. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.068. PMID   29957419. S2CID   49589263.
  5. "Dross Processing". Aluminum Recycling. Archive.is. 2006-09-26. pp. 193–208. doi:10.1201/9781420006247.ch13. ISBN   978-0-8493-9662-5. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  6. Scot Mackay (2011-10-06). "Taha Asia Pacific Recycling Plant Opens At Tiwai". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  7. "Dross Recycling Plant - Taha Asia Pacific in New Zealand". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  8. "Centre a welcome relief". Stuff.co.nz. 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  9. 1 2 Aluminium oxide
  10. "Aluminum Oxide". Aluminumsulfate.net. Archived from the original on 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  11. cf Thermite
  12. cf Aluminium recycling
  13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2012-04-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)