Abstract
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%.
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Foundation item: the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science and Arts (KNAW) (No. 10CDP026), the National Outstanding Young Scientist Foundation of China (No. 50825401), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50821003)
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Zhu, Gl., Xiao, Yp., Yang, Yx. et al. Recycling of aluminum from fibre metal laminates. J. Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. (Sci.) 17, 263–267 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-012-1265-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12204-012-1265-1