Preparation of High Pure α-Al2O3 from Aluminum Dross by Self-Heat Generating Method

Abstract

Due to its excellent engineering properties, aluminum has become an important material for processing industries. As the demand for aluminum increased, a large amount of waste aluminum dross was generated during the aluminum smelting process. The aluminum dross contained aluminum nitride and would cause odor while being disposed in landfill, making the aluminum dross disposal a tough issue. Therefore, the aluminum dross was mostly stored in the original plants. The objective of this study was to develop an economically feasible and environmentally friendly technology to recover aluminum dross. Aluminum dross ranges from 1–2% of the aluminum manufactured and comprises 30–70% aluminum by weight. 1 ton of aluminum metal production generates 10 to 20 kg of dross. Currently, in India, there is very limited organized processing of dross. The world produces approximately 65 million tons of aluminum per annum, which results in approximately 1 million tons of aluminum dross being produced every year. Furthermore, almost 100 000 of these are produced in India. Hence, the environmental impact of this waste is a global problem that needs to be addressed on priority. In this paper, a new method is developed to prepare a high pure α-alumina (99% purity) from aluminum dross by self-heat generating, one-step combustion method at 500°C furnace temperature.