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Process modeling of aluminum scraps melting in molten salt and metal bath
in a rotary furnace

Conference Paper  in  TMS Light Metals · February 2004

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 Light Metals 2004 Edited by A.T. Tabereaux TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2004

PROCESS MODELING OF ALUMINUM SCRAPS MELTING

IN MOLTEN SALT AND METAL BATH IN A ROTARY FURNACE

Bo Zhou, Yongxiang Yang, Markus A. Reuter

Department of Applied Earth Sciences, Delft University of Technology; Mijnbouwstraat 120; 2628 RX Delft, The Netherlands

Keywords: Process Modeling, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Aluminum Scrap Melting, Rotary Furnace

Abstract in metallurgical reactors, to improve the reactor designs and to

During secondary aluminum recovery, aluminum scraps are
melted and refined often in a rotary melting furnace. The feed is
normally a complex combination of aluminum scraps with
different sizes, shapes, compositions, and contaminations. During
the process, the scraps are charged into the rotary furnace, heated
by the combustion of natural gas, melted and refined under a
molten salt layer. Efficient melting of the scraps is a critical issue
in order to achieve higher metal recovery, lower energy and salt
consumption, and less environmental impact. To study the scrap
melting behavior, a furnace process model has been developed
based on a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) framework,
coupled with a user-developed scrap-melting sub-model. The
furnace model consists of a gas region with turbulent flow and
combustion as well as radiative heat transfer in the upper part of
the furnace, and a solid-liquid region of salt and aluminum metal
in the lower part of the furnace. The melting sub-model
implemented in the CFD framework was modified from a user
developed melting model for a single aluminum particle in molten
melts. To represent the distributed nature of the scrap feed,
aluminum scraps were classified into several groups depending on
their properties, e.g. size of the scraps. The melting behavior of
aluminum scrap was simulated with the exchange of information
between the melting sub-model and the CFD calculations. Heat
sink due to scrap melting was calculated by the sub-model and fed
back to the CFD model as source term of the energy equation. Gas
flow in the top combustion space and temperature distributions in
the furnace calculated by the CFD model was used to calculate the
melting rate of aluminum scrap in the sub-model. The influence of
scrap size distribution on melting behavior was studied.
Introduction
Secondary recovery (recycling) is a critical component of the
aluminum industry based on its favorable economic contribution
on production and the reduced environmental impact compared to
primary aluminum production. During secondary aluminum
recovery, aluminum scraps are processed often in a rotary melting
furnace in Europe, where the scraps are heated by the combustion
natural gas, melted and refined under a top salt slag layer. As far
as the energy and salt consumption, metal recovery and
environmental impact are concerned, the melting efficiency of the
aluminum scrap is a critical issue in secondary aluminum industry.
In recent years, together with study in the heat transfer and
aluminum melting models of aluminum metal or scraps [1-4], as
well as heat and mass balance calculations [5,6], research with the
application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is playing an
increasing role [7-11], along with the increasing computing power
and more advanced physical models. CFD as research assistance
is now widely used to simulate the complex transport phenomena
optimize the operation of the industrial processes.
Generally speaking, the phenomena in rotary melting furnace are
more complex than those in a circular furnace or a reverberatory
re-melter in secondary aluminum industry. As illustrated in Figure
1, this is because of the effects of furnace rotation, the existence
of the top salt slag layer and normally the more complex
aluminum scrap feed. Basic mass and energy balance calculations,
static heat transfer models, and 1- or 2-dimension melting models
are sometimes not capable to comprehensively simulate and
optimize such a process, e.g. taking into account the distributed
nature of the aluminum scrap feed.
Rotating
Paddles
Lining
Combustion air
Combustion air Salt/slag Scraps
Salt Flux
Molten Metal
Molten
metal
Figure 1. Illustration of the rotary melting furnace
and the transport phenomena inside
In the present work, focus was made on the melting behavior of
aluminum metal and scrap in the rotary furnace, taking into
account the influence of the aluminum scrap properties, such as
size distribution. Experimental study of aluminum scrap melting
[12] was carried out in a laboratory scale furnace using Thermal
Gravity Analysis (TGA) to investigate the melting kinetics. The
melting rate and behavior of aluminum scraps in molten salt and
aluminum melts were measured. The influence of the salt layer,
which plays an important role in such a process, was studied. The
kinetics of salt shell formation and re-melting was also studied in
the experimental work. Afterwards a mathematical model [4] was
developed for the melting process of aluminum particles and the
formation/re-melting of the salt shell. The influencing factors on
solid particle melting rate, such as particle size, properties of the
salt layer, bulk melt temperature, residence time of the metal in
the salt layer, and pre-heating degree of the particles, have been
studied. The results were compared with the previous
experimental measurements, and reasonable agreement was
reached. The experimental study and numerical modeling of the
aluminum scrap melting were used to develop the melting sub-
model and the process model, which is aimed to make
optimizations and improvements on efficiency of aluminum scrap
melting, consumption of energy and salt, reduction of
energy/metal/salt loss, operation of the furnace, and reduction of
environmental impact, etc. The distributed nature, such as size
distribution, of scraps was considered in the melting sub-model,
and its influence on aluminum melting was studied.

Process Modeling of the Rotary Melting Furnace
Structure of the Process Model
The process model was developed based on a CFD framework,
using the commercial CFD package, ANSYS-CFX 5 [13, 14]. The
turbulent fluid flow with buoyancy force, heat transfer with
combustion and radiation, conjugated heat transfer between fluid
and solid were simulated with this software.
A user-developed sub-model for aluminum scrap melting was
developed based on a previous aluminum scrap melting model [4],
heat transfer theory and experimental observations [12]. It was
integrated with the CFD framework via CFX Expression
Language (CEL) and user FORTRAN interface [13] provided by
ANSYS-CFX 5. The melting sub-model provides melting
information of scraps for the process model, e.g. heat sink due to
phase change, amount of liquid and solid in scrap/salt zone, and
updated size distribution of aluminum scraps. At the same time,
the CFD simulation provides flow and temperature information
for the sub-model, which is the key factor on the melting process.
Measurements and observations in industry were carried out to
obtain the necessary information and data for the development of
the process model. A lot of first hand data, such as detailed
furnace cycle information, mass and heat flows, property data of
participating materials, and temperature measurements, were
obtained. The data was reconciled and utilized to develop a mass
and energy balance model [6], as well as the melting sub-model
and the process model. Some of the data were used to define the
boundary conditions of the process model and some of the data
were used to validate the model results.
Geometry and Boundary Conditions
Rotating
direction
Inlet
Combustion air zone
Outlet
Scrap/salt zone
Figure 2. Geometry and boundary conditions
of the furnace process model
The melting process in a rotary furnace can be regarded as three
sub-processes: heating of the scraps, melting of scraps and heating
of the molten melts. In the present work, the focus is on the first
two sub-processes: heating and melting of the aluminum scraps.
Figure 2 shows the geometry and some of the boundary conditions
of the furnace model, the lining and the off-gas settling chamber
were not included in the current model. The furnace is 6.9 m in
length and 3.0 m in diameter. In the upper part of the furnace,
natural gas is combusted with oxygen, and in the lower part of the
furnace scrap is melted and refined under a top salt layer. In the
early stage of the melting process, the scraps and salt are mixed
with each other. In the current process model, the scrap/salt zone
was regarded as a conducting solid, a mixture of scrap and salt
solids. Phase change of scraps melting was handled by the melting
sub-model, with exchange of information with the CFD
simulation.
The burner was set as the inlet, and it was simplified to reduce the
computing time. The profile of velocity, temperature and mass
flows of gases at the inlet was defined using CEL, based on a
previous simulation with a full burner structure and finer meshes.
Pressure boundary condition was set for the outlet, which is in
high Z direction as shown in Figure 2.
Thermal boundary condition of the walls was defined as fixed
temperature. On one hand, in Z direction, the inner wall
temperature varies depending on the position of the flame.
Normally the wall temperature in the middle of the furnace is
higher. On the other hand, due to the effect of the furnace rotation
and the cooling effect of the cold scrap, the temperature also
varies according to the angular degree, i.e. temperature on the
downside wall is higher. The temperature on the wall also
increases with the increasing of combustion time during the
heating stage. According to these observations, for each point on
the wall, the temperature boundary condition was defined
depending on its position and the combustion time, using a
position- and time-dependent function. The function was
approximately defined based on the outside wall temperature
measurements in a secondary aluminum plant, the previous
heating simulations of the furnace and the estimation of cooling
effect of the solid scrap.
Liquid flow after solid melting was not included in the model, and
the liquid aluminum was assumed stagnant. Rotation of the
furnace, with paddles mounted on the wall, was not fully included
in the current model. Its effect on heating of the scraps is
approached by defining a distributed wall temperature, as
discussed above. Its enhancement on heat transfer within the solid
domain due to mixing of the scraps was estimated and represented
by applying an augmented thermal conductivity in the solid
scrap/salt zone, which is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Model Parameters and Main Assumptions
In the scrap/salt zone, it was assumed that scrap and salt are well
mixed, and for each cell in the solid domain, the mixed material
has unique thermal properties, such as density, melting point,
specific heat, latent heat and thermal conductivity. These
properties are defined based on the mass fraction and phase state
of scrap/salt in the mixture. While in the current model, the
effective density was only calculated based on densities of solid
scrap and salt, and it was assumed that it’s not changing during
the process, despite the effect of thermal expansion. For the
melting point of the mixture, 660oC was used, which is the
melting point of aluminum metal, despite the influence of alloys,
salt and contaminations. For the effective thermal conductivity, it
is influenced by the voidage of the scrap/salt zone. On one hand,
heat transfer in this zone is not only the conductive heat transfer
within the solids, but also convective heat transfer because of the
hot gas flowing through the voids. On the other hand, heat transfer
in this zone is influenced by the conductance degree among the
solids. Both factors are dependent on the voidage of the packed
solids, and they can be combined into a voidage coefficient to
represent the influence of convective heat transfer of the gas flow
and conductance degree of the particles. In general the lower
voidage in this zone, the more conductive heat transfer and the
less convective heat transfer will be. Rotation of the furnace will
also enhance the heat transfer within this zone, and its effect on
thermal conductivity is represented by a rotation coefficient. Thus,
the effective thermal conductivity in the scrap/salt zone was
estimated by the following expression:
λeff = Cvoid ⋅ C rot ⋅ λmix (1)
Where λmix is thermal conductivity of the mixture, calculated
based on the mass fraction and phase state of metal and salt, Crot is
the rotation coefficient, which is greater than 1 and depending on
the rotation speed and furnace dimensions, and Cvoid is the
combined voidage coefficient, which is influenced by furnace
structure, furnace operation, gas flow and material properties etc.
In the work of Wu et al. [2] for a circular aluminum scrap melting
furnace, a value of 5.0 was used for Cvoid, after tuning with their
modeling and experimental results. In the present work, these
values have not been tuned yet, and currently the rotation
coefficient, Crot, was set as 1.3 and Cvoid was set as 5.0. Crot and
Cvoid are also changing with the change of liquid/solid ratio in the
scrap/salt zone during the melting process, but it has not been
included in the current model settings.
Heat transfer in this zone is also influenced by gravity, convection
flow of the liquids and amount of molten melts. For example, the
molten melts would fill up the void in the lower part of the
scrap/salt zone, and the liquid salt and metal would be separated
due to the difference of density. This was not taken into account
in the current model. Solidification process may also happen, but
it has not been simulated, and its effect could be taken into
account in the future by adjusting the coefficients to the effective
thermal conductivity of the scrap/salt zone.
CFD Framework of the Process Model
Governing Partial Differential Equations Turbulent fluid flow
with buoyancy force, heat transfer with combustion and radiation,
conjugated heat transfer between fluid (combustion gases) and
solid (scrap/salt) was simulated with the CFD package. The
generalized form of the partial differential equations can be
expressed by [13]:
∂
( ρφ ) + ∇ ⋅ ( ρ uφ ) = ∇ ⋅ ( Γ∇φ ) + S (2)
∂t
Where φ is the general flow variable such as mass fractions,
velocity components, temperature, turbulent variables, etc., ρ is
the fluid density, u is the fluid velocity vector, Γ is the diffusivity,
and S is the source term.
Turbulence Model The combustion gas flow in the upper part of
the furnace is a turbulent flow, at a velocity ranged from 0.0 m/s
to about 150.0 m/s. Natural gas combustion and heat transfer to
the solid phase are highly dependent on the gas flow and its
turbulent properties. In the process model, the widely used k-ε
model was applied in the current simulations, where k is the
turbulence kinetic energy, defined as the variance of the
fluctuations in velocity, and ε is the turbulence eddy dissipation
rate, the rate at which the velocity fluctuations dissipate.
Combustion Model Eddy dissipation model [13] was used in the
present process model and in the combustion model with a fully
structured burner model, which supplied the inlet boundary
profiles for the process model. Eddy dissipation model was
developed for use in a wide range of turbulent reacting flows
covering premixed and diffusion flames, it has been widely
applied in the prediction of industrial flames. This model is based
on the concept that chemical reaction is fast relative to the
transport processes in the flow. When reactants mix at the
molecular level, they instantaneously form products. The model
assumes that the reaction rate may be related directly to the time
required to mix reactants at the molecular level. In turbulent
flows, this mixing time is dominated by the eddy properties, and
therefore, the rate is proportional to a mixing time defined by the
turbulent kinetic energy, k, and its dissipation rate, ε. This concept
of reaction control is applicable in many industrial combustion
problems where reaction rates are fast compared to reactant
mixing rates.
ε
rate ∝ (3)
k
Radiation Model Radiation has a large contribution of the heat
transfer to the scrap/salt zone and the furnace wall. The goal of
radiation modeling is to solve the radiation transport equation, to
obtain the source term S for the energy equation, and the radiative
heat flux at walls among others quantities of interest. Currently,
P1 radiation model [13] is applied, which is a simplification of the
Radiation Transport Equation, assuming that the radiation
intensity is isotropic or direction independent at a given location
in space. The P1 model is valid for an optical thickness greater
than 1, and in the present case, the optical thickness is estimated at
1.8. Other radiation models, which are implemented in the new
version of ANSYS-CFX 5.6, such as Discrete Transfer Model,
Monte Carlo Model, have not been applied in the present model
and will be tested and utilized in the future simulations.
Buoyancy Model For buoyancy calculations where the density is a
function of pressure, temperature or additional variables, the full
buoyancy model [13] is employed, which is implemented by
adding a source term to the momentum equations. The buoyancy
force source term is a function of the local density variation:
S M = ( ρ g − ρ ref ) g (4)
Where SM is the momentum source term due to buoyancy force, ρg
is the density of the gas mixture, ρref is the reference density, and
g is the gravity acceleration. It is evident that the buoyancy is very
much temperature dependent due to the strong variation of the gas
density with temperature (ideal gas law).
User Developed Sub-models When some part of the solid reaches
the melting point of aluminum scrap, the melting sub-model starts
to calculate the melting rate based on the information provided by
the CFD simulations and the properties of the scraps and
surrounded materials. The melting sub-model was simplified from
the previous work of modeling a single particle melting in molten
melts [4]. For a multi-size particle system, the scrap is classified
into several groups depending on the size of the scraps. It is
assumed that for each cell in the scrap/salt zone, it has the same
initial size distribution. The sub-model handles each size group
the same as a single solid particle, calculates the melting rate
based on the conditions in each cell in the scrap/salt zone.
Since the thermal conductivity of the aluminum metal is very
high, the temperature difference within the particle was ignored.
Thus the heat transferred from the environment to the particle is
totally used for melting of the solid metal. The heat balance at the
interface between the environment and the solid can be expressed
as follows [4]:
ρ p ⋅ A ⋅ dR
⋅ ∆H = − h ⋅ A ⋅ (T f − Tmp ) (5)
dt
Where ρp is the density of the particle, A is the surface area of the
particle, Tmp is the melting point of the solid, Tf is the environment
temperature, which is obtained from the CFD calculations, ∆H is
the latent heat of the solid melting, and h is the heat transfer
coefficient around the particle, which is dependent on particle
size, fluid flow condition and fluid properties. Then the size
change of the particle can be calculated by:
balanced for such a simulation. In the current model, for a process
lasting about 3 hours, it takes about 7 days of CPU time on a
workstation with a Pentium 4, 3.0 GHz CPU. Figure 4 shows the
temperature distribution in the upper combustion zone, at time t =
4800 s for Case A, when 79.3%wt of solid scrap/salt has been
melted. Figure 5 shows the flow field in the combustion space.
The flow is shifted up a little and forms a circle close to the outlet,
due to the buoyancy force and the furnace geometry.
Rotating
direction
Low
High, middle
and downside
Low
Low

h ⋅ (T f − Tmp )
dR = − dt (6)
ρ p ⋅ ∆H

New particle size for each group in each cell and the total amount
of melted particle in each cell at the current time step can be
obtained. Heat sink for each cell due to phase change can be Figure 3. Temperature distribution on the
calculated and returned to the CFD framework as an energy wall of scrap/salt zone
source term, which influences the temperature distribution in the
scrap/salt zone and heat transfer from the combustion gas or
furnace wall to the scrap/salt zone.

Results and Discussions

Under the structure of the process model introduced above, some

results have been obtained. As an illustration example, the details Side view, x = 0 m
of the model are as follows:
• Energy input from the inlet of the furnace is 1600 kW.
• The rotation speed of the furnace is 1.333 rpm, and the
rotating direction is shown in Figure 3 (however, the physical
rotation has not been included in the model).
• Higher temperature is defined on the middle and downside of
the wall. And the temperature values vary depending on the Top view, y = 0 m
heating time. As an example, Figure 3 shows the temperature
distribution on the wall of the scrap/salt zone at 3000s. The
temperature boundary condition of the wall in top Figure 4. Temperature distribution in
combustion zone is defined in a similar way. the combustion air zone at t = 4800 s
• Scrap is classified into 25 groups depending on the size, and
the largest particle is assumed to be 0.5 m in diameter and
the particles are assumed to be spherical. Figure 8 shows two
different initial (t = 0 s) size distributions for Case A and
Case B respectively, where for Case A, a larger portion of
smaller size of scraps was applied.
• The properties of the scrap/salt zone, such as effective
density, effective specific heat, melting point, and effective
thermal conductivity, are defined using the way discussed in
the previous chapters. The voidage δg is assumed to be 0.15
in this zone.
• Number of computational cells: 66877; time step: 3 seconds;
convergence criteria: RMS (root mean square) < 1.0E-4. Figure 5. Flow field in the combustion air zone at t = 4800 s
A small time step must be used to reduce the error for the Figure 6 and 7 show the temperature distribution in the scrap/salt
calculation of the heat sink due to phase change. The time step, zone, on XZ planes and YZ planes respectively. In the middle and
the number of cells, the CPU time and the accuracy must be well downside of the scrap/salt zone, the temperature is higher due to a
higher temperature boundary condition defined in this region. The
temperature on XZ plane (y = -0.7 m) in Figure 6, is very close to 16
0s
the solid-gas interface. The temperature in the area of low Z is

Unmelted solid (%wt)

A 2400s B
higher due to higher radiative/convective heat transfer from the 12
hotter combustion air, compared to the area at high Z direction. 3600s
Figure 7 shows the temperature contours on YZ planes. The 4800s
lowest temperature zone is located in the middle, closer to upper 8
6000s
side and outlet of the furnace, which is influenced by the wall
boundary condition, furnace geometry and flame position. 4

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Group num ber
y=-0.7 m
Figure 8. Changing history of weight percentage
of un-melted solid for each scrap group

100
y=-1.2 m Case A

Unmelted solid (%wt)

80
Case B
60
Figure 6. Temperature distribution (XZ plane) in
40
the scrap/salt zone at t = 4800 s
20
x=-0.8 m
0
0 1200 2400 3600 4800 6000 7200
x=-0.5 m
Time (s)

x=0.0 m
Figure 9. Melting curve of the solids in scrap/salt zone
x=0.5 m
1273
x=0.8 m Tave_Air
1173
Tave_Outlet
1073 Tave_Wall (dotted line)
Figure 7. Temperature distribution (YZ plane) in
the scrap/salt zone at t = 4800 s
Temperature (K)

973
Tave_Scrap
For both Case A and Case B, Figure 8 shows the changing history
of un-melted solid for each scrap group, in weight percentage to 873
the total weight of scrap/salt zone, at time 0 s, 2400 s, 3600 s,
4800 s and 6000 s. Here it is assumed that for a scrap with a 773
certain initial size, it’s always in the same scrap group during the
process. Figure 9 shows the weight percentage of un-melted solid 673
against heating time. For both cases with different scrap size
distributions, the start time of the melting process is around 1400s 573
(noticeable around 1800s in Figure 9). For Case A with a larger
portion of smaller scraps, the melting process is about 200 s ahead 473
of Case B. The total melting time, including the heating stage, for
0 1800 3600 5400 7200 9000 10800
both cases is about 7200 seconds, and it’s only a little bit shorter
for Case A. Time (s)

Figure 10. Average temperature in combustion space, at outlet, on

wall of scrap/salt zone, and in scrap/salt zone
 Figure 10 shows the mass-flow-average temperature in
combustion space, the mass-flow-average temperature at outlet,
the area-average temperature on wall in scrap/salt zone, and the
volume-average temperature in scrap/salt zone during heating and
melting process for Case A. In the melting stage (from about
1800s to about 7200 s), the temperature difference between wall
and scrap/salt zone is larger when there’s a higher melting rate
due to the heat consumption of phase change, which is in the
middle of the melting stage, around 3600 s as shown in Figure 10.
For both cases, the total melting time is shorter than that in real
operations, and this is mainly because that the heat loss due to
opening of the furnace door during charging stage was not taken
into account and the wall temperature boundary condition could
be over estimated. The approximately defined wall boundary
conditions and model parameters will be tuned to achieve a closer
approach in the future.
Concluding Remarks and Future Work
A process model has developed based on a CFD framework, in
which fluid flow, heat transfer, natural gas combustion, and
radiative heat transfer were simulated with a commercial CFD
code – ANSYS-CFX 5. The melting sub-model was modified
from a previous melting model for a single particle in molten
melts. In the modified melting sub-model, the scrap was classified
into several groups depending on the size of scraps to represent
the distributed nature of the scrap feed. Melting rate for each
group in each cell at each time step was calculated with the
exchange of information between the melting sub-model and the
CFD framework. Results of previous experimental study [12],
numerical modeling work [4], data measurements in industry and
heat/mass balance calculations were used to develop the sub-
model and the process model.
Under the structure of the process model, some simulation work
has been carried out. Influence of the size distribution on melting
behavior was studied preliminarily. The process model still needs
to be improved in the future. The ANSYS-CFX software package
is keeping updated and integrated with advanced models, which
should be tested and applied in the future work. In the current
melting sub-model, some parameters such as voidage, heat
transfer coefficient around the solid particle, voidage coefficient
Cvoid, rotation coefficient Crot, and wall temperature distribution
functions, were only approximately estimated. More accurate
definition and estimation should be investigated and tuned to have
a better approach. Other sub-models such as the metal burn-off
model and salt evaporation model are being developed and will be
integrated in the future.
After the development of the process model, parametric study will
be performed. Case studies and process optimizations will be
conducted based on the process model. Improvements on
operation of the furnace, energy/salt consumption, and reduction
of environmental impact can be expected.
Acknowledgement
This work is part of the E.E.T. (Economy, Ecology and
technology) project supported by the Dutch government
(http://www.batchcentre.tudelft.nl, http://www.EET.nl) for batch
process optimization. The financial support from the E.E.T.
program is gratefully acknowledged.
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