Recycling of aluminum from fibre metal laminates
Recycling of aluminum alloy scrap obtained from delaminated fibre metal laminates (FMLs) was studied through high temperature refining in the presence of a salt flux. The aluminum alloy scrap contains approximately mass fraction w(Cu) = 4.4%, w(Mg) = 1.1% and w(Mn) = 0.6% (2024 aluminum alloy). The main objective of this research is to obtain a high metal yield, while maintaining its original alloy compositions. The work focuses on the metal yield and quality of recycled Al alloy under different refining conditions. The NaCl-KCl salt system was selected as the major components of flux in the Al alloy recycling. Two different flux compositions were employed at NaCl to KCl mass ratios of 44:56 and 70:30 respectively, based on either the eutectic composition, or the European preference. Different additives were introduced into the NaCl-KCl system to study the effect of flux component on recycling result. Although burning and oxidation loss of the alloying elements during re-melting and refining take place as the drawbacks of conventional refining process, the problems can be solved to a large extent by using an appropriate salt flux. Experimental results indicate that Mg in the alloy gets lost when adding cryolite in the NaCl-KCl salt system, though the metal yield can reach as high as 98%. However, by adding w(MgF2) = 5% into the NaCl-KCl salt system (instead of using cryolite) all alloying elements were well controlled to its original composition with a metal yield of almost 98%.
Aluminium Recycling and Environmental Issues of Salt Slag Treatment
Abstract Environmental friendly recycling is the trend toward total recycling of aluminium metal. In the secondary aluminium industry, due to the complexity of compositions and contaminants in the various types of aluminium scraps, an understanding of the behavior of different scraps during melting is crucial in the recycling process. Salt slags are the byproducts of the secondary aluminium industry, which should be recycled and processed in a proper way by taking the environmental impact into consideration. This article provides qualitative assessment on 10 different commercial aluminium scraps for their relative recyclability via well-designed and controlled laboratory experiments. It confirms that more nonmetallic contaminants, smaller size, and higher ratio of surface area to body volume generally lead to a lower metal recovery. Recycling the scraps with lower recyclability normally generates more salt slags. High slag viscosity leads to more fine aluminum metal entrapped in the salt slag and thus increases the load of salt slag recycling. It was found that viscosity of the salt flux is increased with the amount of entrapped nonmetallic components, which affect the settling of heavier materials. In addition, the slag samples from the melting tests were leached and analyzed to evaluate the behavior of carbon containing scrap. The elevated carbon content in the scrap resulted in more carbide formation in salt slags and thus more methane generation in salt slag recycling with a higher environmental impact.
HRTEM study of orthorhombic zirconia in MgO-PSZ
High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was used to study the phase of orthorhombic ZrO2 formed in magnesia partially stabilized zirconia (MgO-PSZ) during HRTEM specimen preparation. Based on the three reported crystal structures of orthorhombic ZrO2, with the space groups Pbcm, Pbc21 and Pbca, here it is shown that orthorhombic ZrO2 formed in MgO-PSZ has the Pbcm structure.