13th International Conference on Aluminum Alloys (ICAA13)

Edited by: Hasso Weiland, Anthony D. Rollett, William A. Cassada

TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2012

Reuse of Aluminum Dross as an Engineered Product

Chen Dai, Diran Apelian
Metal Processing Institute
Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Keywords: reuse, aluminum dross, refractory, concrete

Abstract
To prevent the leaching of landfilled aluminum dross waste and save the energy consumed by
recovering metallic aluminum from dross, aluminum dross is reused as an engineering product
GLUHFWO\UDWKHUWKDQ³UHIXUELVKed´ ineffectively. The concept is to reduce waste and to reuse. Two
kinds of aluminum dross from industrial streams were selected and characterized. We have
shown that dross can be applied directly, or accompanied with a simple conditioning process, to
manufacture refractory components. Dross particles below 50 mesh are most effective.
Mechanical property evaluations revealed the possibility for dross waste to be utilized as filler in
concrete, resulting in up to 40% higher flexural strength and 10% higher compressive strength
compared to pure cement, as well as cement with sand additions. The potential usage of
aluminum dross as a raw material for such engineering applications is presented and discussed.
Introduction
Aluminum (Al) dross is the residue waste material formed on the surface of the melt in the
presence of air and added flux. The annual production of dross reported from domestic foundries
exceeded 5 million tons in 2010, and this number is projected to increase in future years [1].
The production of such large quantities of dross is due to the increasing use of Al products for
commercial applications. Light weighting of transportation fleets is mostly implemented by the
use of Al [2]. Moreover, Al is one of the few infinitely recyclable materials ± it can be recycled
infinitely with no loss in quality [3]. The recycling process involves simply re-melting scrap Al
that has been properly sorted, and this is far less expensive and less energy intensive than
producing Al via reduction of bauxite ore. Recycled Al production requires only 5% of the
energy used to make new Al and saves 95% of greenhouse gas emissions [4].
Since Al is easily oxidized, Al2O3 formation during processing is mitigated by the use of slags
or fluxes. Al and the oxides, however, are absorbed by the slag or flux to form dross. Al dross
collected from primary smelters usually weighs 2% of the original melt, while in secondary
smelters such as used beverage can smelters, the metal loss can be up to 15% [5].
Observations of dross formation and analysis of dross composition reveal that the most
important reason for metal losses is not the oxidation, but the entrapment of liquid metal and
agglomeration of oxides films [6]. Hence, Al dross contains up to 70% metallic Al [7]. In order
to extract the Al, dross is heated in a rotating furnace with some salt fluxes added. This helps
separate molten Al from solid oxides and protects Al against oxidation. When Al is recovered,
the remaining dross along with the added salts (called salt cakes) is sent to landfills [8]. As a
result of added salts, Al dross becomes a mixture of all kinds of impurities, which often include
hazardous chlorides, fluorides, sodium, and certain heavy metals [9].
To alleviate the use of salts and reduce the formation of dross, degassing techniques [10] have
been used during melting, but this can only reduce 5% of dross and it is a costly operation. The
other possibility is to convert dross and remove the salt component via plasma processing [11],
however this pathway is not cost-effective. It is estimated that about $660 will be added to the
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cost of dross for each ton of Al produced. Thus, most foundries use conventional salt treatment
and dross along with salt cakes are being sent to landfills, which is not environmental friendly.
Animals that have had exposure to Al dross will end up with serious medical conditions such
as cancers, liver damage, and reproductive disorders [12]. Although Al dross is sealed to prevent
leaching, the potential for leaking exists and it does occur which eventually harms the
environment. Studies [13] of domestic landfills buried with Al dross report that groundwater in
these landfills contains high quantities of ammonia, chloride, sodium, and other volatile organic
compounds; PH value of the soil exceeds 9. As the evidences are growing, it is undeniable that
landfilling of dross is contaminating the water, soil, and air, and threatening our lives. Thus the
goal of this work is to reuse dross as an engineering product.
Conceptual Model and Objectives
While it is important to reduce energy usage to extract the Al out of dross and eliminate potential
leakage in landfills, the potential economic benefits are also enticing. By reusing dross,
manufactures can reduce the cost on gate fees to landfills and earn profits from end products that
have a higher environmental value.
Our interest in investigating the usage of Al dross in refractories is closely related to the high
content of Al2O3 in dross, since Al2O3 is one of the key ingredients in refractories. The
worldwide consumption of calcined alumina used in refractories is over 1.5 million tons per year
[14]. Though there are proposals for dross to be used in refractories, few techniques have been
successfully developed.
Deleterious effects and inconsistent properties in some experiments [15] are due to the lack of
appropriate conditioning. Others researchers [16] have shown acceptable results, but they
involve complex acid digesters, PH control, heating and filtration; again making it economically
unfeasible. Also, analysis of these experiments produces little explanation for the improvement
or degradation and none of them clearly defined GURVV¶ UROH LQ UHIUDFWRULHV VXFK DV DFWLYH
aggregate or filler. Moreover, the nature of dross indicates that researchers can hardly find a
generic solution for all Al dross, because every single furnace produces a different kind of dross,
depending on the type of Al that is melted in the furnace.
Therefore, the aim of this work is to reuse aluminum dross in refractory materials and in
concrete. The study has two targets: (i) analyze the specific samples to find a simple and
effective way of conditioning; (ii) test the performance of concrete material containing dross, and
explain the effect of dross on SURSHUWLHVRIWKH³FRPSRVLWH´FRQFUHWH
Experimental Measurements
Physical and Chemical Properties
Two types of dross samples obtained from ALCOA were examined. One was obtained from a
primary smelter ± this dross is mostly un-alloyed (Type I). The other was collected in the cast
house ± this is mostly alloyed dross (Type II).
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SRUWLRQLVWKHQFUXVKHGDQGVLHYHGWRȝP-ȝPaȝP-ȝPaȝPDQG-ȝP
(OHPHQWDODQDO\VLVLQGLFDWHVWKDWSDUWLFOHVDERYHȝPFRQWDLQZW$O7KHVHPHWDOOLFEXONV
were sent back for Al recovery, while the fine portions were kept for our experiments with
concrete. The results also indicate that, within the fine portions, larger particles have more
metallic Al while smaller particles contain mainly alumina. This implies that dross with different
sizes should be treated differently.
For the leaching test, a 100g sample was mixed in a liter of distilled water, let rest for 24 hours,
and the PH value of the solution was then measured. Bubbles observed in all groups meant that

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