A356 is one of the widely used aluminium casting alloy that has been used in both sand and die casting processes. Large amounts of scrap
metal can be generated from the runner systems and feeders. In addition, chips are generated in the machined parts. The surface area with
regard to weight of chips is so high that it makes these scraps difficult to melt. Although there are several techniques evolved to remedy
this problem, yet the problem lies in the quality of the recycled raw material. Since recycling of these scrap is quite important due to the
advantages like energy saving and cost reduction in the final product, in this work, the recycling efficiency and casting quality were
investigated. Three types of charges were prepared for casting: %100 primary ingot, %100 scrap aluminium and fifty-fifty scrap
aluminium and primary ingot mixture were used. Melt quality was determined by calculating bifilm index by using reduced pressure test.
Tensile test samples were produced by casting both from sand and die moulds. Relationship between bifilm index and tensile strength were
determined as an indication of correlation of melt quality. It was found that untreated chips decrease the casting quality significantly.
Therefore, prior to charging the chips into the furnace for melting, a series of cleaning processes has to be used in order to achieve good
quality products.
Electron beam melting(EBM) is a useful technique to obtain high-purity metal ingots. It is also used for melting refractory metals such as tantalum, which require melting techniques employing a high-energy heat source. Drawing is a method which is used to convert the ingot into a wire shape. The required thickness of the wire is achieved by drawing the ingot from a drawing die with a hole of similar size. This process is used to achieve high purity tantalum springs, which are an essential component of lithography lamp in semiconductor manufacturing process. Moreover, high-purity tantalum is used in other applications such as sputtering targets for semiconductors. Studies related to recycling of tantalum from these components have not been carried out until now. The recycling of tantalum is vital for environmental and economic reasons. In order to obtain high-purity tantalum ingot, in this study impurities contained in the scrap were removed by electron beam melting after pre-treatment using aqua regia. The purity of the ingot was then analyzed to be more than 4N5 (99.995%). Subsequently, drawing was performed using the rod melted by electron beam melting. Owing to continuous drawing, the diameter of the tantalum wire decreased to 0.5 mm from 9 mm. The hardness and oxygen concentration of the tantalum ingot were 149 Hv and less than 300 ppm, respectively, whereas the hardness of the tantalum wire was 232.12 Hv. In conclusion, 4N5 grade tantalum wire was successfully fabricated from tantalum scrap by EBM and drawing techniques. Furthermore, procedure to successfully recycle Tantalum from scraps was established.
The authors established the chemical and phase compositions of grain fractions of the magnesia carbon scrap disintegrated using industrial cone crushers. The investigations included chemical and XRD analyses and optical investigations. The contents of admixtures: SiO2, CaO, Fe2O3 and Al2O3 increase with the decreasing size of the scrap grain fractions, whereas the C/S ratio decreases in finer and finer fractions due to changes of the phase composition. These relations are caused by the presence of low-fusible silicate phases, characterized by their cleavage and brittleness. Such phases were mainly derived from the graphite ash containing a high silica content. The scrap after removing its finest grain fractions can be recycled and utilized for producing the magnesia-carbon refractory materials. However, the finest grain fractions may be used, e.g. as a component of gunite mixes. Many years of experience collected by the ArcelorMittal Refractories Ltd., Krakow, Poland in the field of refractory scrap utilization has also been presented.
In this paper results of microstructural observations for series of CuZn39Pb2 alloys produced from qualified scraps are presented. The individual alloy melts were differentiated in terms of thermal parameters of continuous casting as well as refining methods and modifications. Structural observations performed by SEM and TEM revealed formation of different types of intermetallic phases including “hard particles”. EDS results show that “hard particles” are enrich in silicon, phosphorus, iron, chromium and nickel elements. Additionally, formation of Al-Fe-Si and Al-Cr in alloy melts was observed as well. It was found that quantity and morphology of intermetallic phases strongly depends upon the chemical composition of raw materials, process parameters, modifiers and refining procedure applied during casting. It was observed that refining process results in very effective refinement of intermetallic phases, whereas modifiers, particularly carbon-based, results in formation of large particles in the microstructure.
Nowadays, the most popular production method for manufacturing high quality casts of aluminium alloys is the hot and cold chamber die casting. Die casts made of hypereutectoid silumin Silafont 36 AlSi9Mg are used for construction elements in the automotive industry. The influence of the metal input and circulating scrap proportion on porosity and mechanical properties of the cast has been examined and the results have been shown in this article. A little porosity in samples has not influenced the details strength and the addition of the circulating scrap has contributed to the growth of the maximum tensile force. Introducing 80% of the circulating scrap has caused great porosity which led to reduce the strength of the detail. The proportion of 40% of the metal input and 60% of the circulating scrap is a configuration safe for the details quality in terms of porosity and mechanical strength.
Steel and cast-iron products, due to their low price and beneficial properties, are the most widely used among metals; their consumption has become an indicator of the economic development of countries. The characteristics of iron raw materials, in relation to current metallurgical requirements, are presented in the present this article. The globalization of the trade and development of steelmaking technologies have caused significant changes in the quality of raw materials in the last half-century forcing improvements in processing technologies. In many countries, standard concentrates (at least 60% Fe) are almost twice as rich as those processed in the mid-20th century. Methods of quality assessment have been improved and quality standards tightened.
The quality requirements for the most important raw materials ‒ iron ores and concentrates, steel scrap, major alloy metals, coking coal, and coke, as well as gas and other energy media ‒ are reviewed in the present paper. Particular attention is paid to the quality testing methodology. The quality of many raw materials is evaluated multi-parametrically: both chemical and physical characteristics are important. Lower-quality parameters in raw materials equate to significantly lower prices obtained by suppliers in the market.
The markets for these raw materials are diversified and governed by separate sets of newly introduced rules. Price benchmarks (e.g. for standard Australian metallurgical coal) or indices (for iron concentrates) apply. Some raw materials are quoted within the framework of the commodity market system (certain alloying components and steel scrap). The abandonment of the long-established system of multi-annual contracts has led to wide fluctuations in prices, which have reached a scale similar to that of other metals.
Production waste is one of the major sources of aluminium for recycling. Depending on the waste sources, it can be directly melted in furnaces, pre-cleaned and then melted, or due to the small size of the material (powder or dust) left without remelting. The latter form of waste includes chips formed during mechanical cutting (sawing) of aluminium and its alloys. In this study, this type of chips (with the dimensions not exceeding 1 mm) were melted. The obtained results of laboratory tests have indicated that even chips of such small sizes pressed into cylindrical compacts can be remelted. The high recovery yield (up to 94 %) and degree of metal coalescence (up to 100 %) were achieved via thermal removal of impurities under controlled conditions of a gas atmosphere (argon or/and air), followed with consolidation of chips at a pressure of minimum 170 MPa and melting at 750 oC with NaCl-KCl-Na3AlF6 salt flux.
Liquid metal extraction (LME) process results in 100% neodymium (Nd) extraction but the highest extraction efficiency reported for Dysprosium (Dy) so far is 74%. Oxidation of Dy is the major limiting factor for incomplete Dy extraction. In order to enhance the extraction efficiency and to further investigate the limiting factors for incomplete extraction, experiments were carried out on six different particle sizes of under 200 µm, 200-300 µm, 300-700 µm, 700-1000 µm, 1000-2000 µm and over 2000 µm at 900℃ with magnesium-to-magnet scrap ratio of 15:1 for 6, 24 and 48 hours, respectively. This research identified Dy2Fe17 in addition to Dy2O3 phase to be responsible for incomplete extraction. The relationship between Dy2Fe17 and Dy2O3 phase was investigated, and the overall extraction efficiency of Dy was enhanced to 97%.
U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs for a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) were conventionally prepared by a modified injection casting method, which had the drawback of a low fabrication yield rate of approximately 60% because of the formation of many metallic fuel scraps, such as melt residue and unsuitable fuel slug butts. Moreover, the metallic fuel scraps were classified as a radioactive waste and stored in temporary storage without recycling. It is necessary to develop a recycling process technology for scrap wastes in order to reduce the radioactive wastes of the fuel scraps and improve the fabrication yield of the fuel slugs. In this study, the additive recycling process of the metallic fuel scraps was introduced to re-fabricate the U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs. The U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel scraps were cleaned on the surface impurity layers with a mechanical treatment that used an electric brush under an Ar atmosphere. The U-10wt.%Zr-5wt.%RE fuel slugs were soundly re-fabricated and examined to evaluate the feasibility of the additive process compared with the metallic fuel slugs that used pure metals.