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Chlorine fluxing for removal of magnesium from molten aluminum: Part I. Laboratory-scale measurements of reaction rates and bubble behavior

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Abstract

Chlorine fluxing is widely used in the aluminum industry for the removal of magnesium from molten aluminum. Typically, it consists of bubbling a nitrogen/chlorine or argon/chlorine mixture into the melt. This Part I of a two-part article describes laboratory-scale experiments on the kinetics of the reactions and emissions during chlorine fluxing for magnesium removal. Bubble frequency, size, and residence time were measured by a two-microphone detection system, which lead to an estimate of the melt-gas interfacial area. Emissions were found to be low, provided the melt temperature was above the melting point of magnesium chloride and provided the magnesium content was above a critical level. Experimental results suggested the chlorine supply to be the rate-determining factor above this critical level and magnesium mass transport to be the rate-determining factor below the critical level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Materials Science and Mineral Engineering, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA

    Qian Fu (Graduate Student), Dong Xu (Visiting Scientist) & James W. Evans (Chancellors Professor)

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  1. Qian Fu
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  2. Dong Xu
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  3. James W. Evans
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Fu, Q., Xu, D. & Evans, J.W. Chlorine fluxing for removal of magnesium from molten aluminum: Part I. Laboratory-scale measurements of reaction rates and bubble behavior. Metall Mater Trans B 29, 971–978 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-998-0065-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-998-0065-3

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