Aluminum Shavings Research Articles

Experimental study in heat accumulators with a phase transition of matter

The proposed article is devoted to the study of a heat accumulator with a phase transition of a substance, which is a model of an accumulator with a semi-co- occupational heat pipe through which a coolant (water) passes at different temperatures. To intensify the heat exchange process between the coolant and the heat-storing material, the tube is fitted with longitudinal and transverse ribs, and aluminum shavings are added to the HSM composition. The experimental results make it possible to suggest that there are such values of the studied parameters (flow rate, coolant temperature) at which a further increase in the latter does not have a significant effect on the rate of processes in heat accumulators based on a phase transition.

Experimental investigation on tubular solar desalination using phase change material enhanced with nano-Co3O4 and aluminum shavings

This experimental study aims to improve the performance of a tubular solar still using enhanced thermal management methods. Paraffin wax with a melting point of 44 °C is used as a phase change material (PCM). Three main methods of improving solar still desalination performance were analyzed including pure PCM, nano-enhanced PCM with Co3O4, and the combination of nano-enhanced PCM with aluminum shavings, and compared to a conventional tubular solar still. In order to improve the thermal performance of the portable desalination design, copper tubes containing industrial metal waste, as the porous media, and baffles coated with micro Al2O3-black paint were utilized in the solar still basin. The addition of 0.3 % Co3O4 nanoparticles along with aluminum shavings led to improve the thermal properties of paraffin wax by reducing >50 min in the melting time. Based on the obtained results, the enhancement in cumulative productivity reached 5.69 %, 15.30 %, and 24.56 % for these three scenarios compared to the conventional solar still with a cuboid basin, respectively. Also, the average efficiency improved from 41 % to about 46.7 %, 51.2 %, and 64.3 %, respectively. Furthermore, the measured total dissolved solids (TDS) of the distilled water in all scenarios was within an acceptable range.

Technological research of process for producing titanium rich slag and complex titanium-containing ferroalloy

This paper demonstrates the results on the experimental smelting of the titanium rich slag and complex titanium-containing ferroalloy under the large-scale laboratory conditions that simulate industrial one. The technological researches of the process were performed on an ore-thermal furnace with 200 kVA transformer power. The titanium rich slag was produced from the low-grade ilmenite concentrate, i.e. the low TiO2 content and the high content of impurities. During the production of the high-grade titanium slag (TiO2 content: 75–80%), the impurity elements are transferred into the associated alloyed metal (cast iron). Thus, it can be used to smelt the steel. As a result, samples of titanium slag have been produced with the content of the main components, %: TiO2 – 80.2; Al2O3 – 4.5; SiO2 – 1.97; Cr2O3 – 1.3 and Fe2O3 – 9.87. Then, in metallurgical practice a complex titanium-containing ferroalloy was first smelted from the previously produced titanium rich slag using a carbothermic approach. The high-ash coal was applied as a carbon-bearing reducing agent. The ash was more 45%. As a result of tests, a pilot batch of the alloy was produced with the following chemical composition, %: Ti - 20–25; Si - 35–45; Al - 10–15; C - 0.2–0.5; P - no more than 0.08; and ferrum. The main component content in the produced alloy suggests that it can serve as an alternative to a mechanical mixture (FeSi45, aluminum shavings, low-percentage ferrotitanium) for steel alloying and deoxidation purposes.

The Effect of Material Ratios on Technical Properties in Fly Ash and Blast Furnace Slag Based Aluminum Chip Reinforced Geopolymer Mortars

In this article, it is investigated how the increase in aluminum chips ratio affects the spreaddiameter, flexural strength, compressive strength and electrical conductivity of fly ash basis (UA) seriesand blast furnace slag based (YA) series aluminum chips reinforced geopolymer mortars. It was observedthat there was a decrease of 11.29% in spread diameter for the UA series from UAO to UA15, while theYA series showed a decrease of 19.62%. The increase in aluminum chip waste content resulted in asignificant decrease in flexural strength and compressive strength of the material. Furthermore, it was statedthat the increase in the aluminum chips ratio had an effect on the electrical conductivity of the material.Samples produced with blast furnace slag had lower resistivity and higher electrical conductivity thansamples produced with fly ash. The importance of aluminum waste and aluminum shavings ratio in termsof sustainability was emphasized. The recycling and reuse of waste aluminum contributes to energy savingsand reduction of environmental impact, while at the same time prolonging the life of materials andconserving natural resources. As a result, it was seen that the increase in the aluminum chip ratio had asignificant effect on the material properties. It was concluded that careful management of aluminum waste,promoting recycling processes and evaluating alternative production methods are a critical step in achievingsustainability goals.

Self-Healing Potential of Porous Asphalt Concrete Containing Different Aggregates and Metal Wastes Through Microwave Heating

Asphalt is known as a self-healing material due to its temperature-related flow behavior. When damage occurs in asphalt concrete, bitumen can flow into cracks with heat and provide recovering by filling the cracks. Much of the current literature on self-healing pays particular attention to artificially heat asphalt concrete by several methods, including microwave heating. Although there is a growing body of literature that recognizes using steel fibers in microwave healing asphalt, there are no data on the use of aluminum fibers to improve microwave healing. This paper evaluates the microwave healing potential of asphalt concrete that contains metal wastes such as aluminum and steel shavings. Besides, the use of basalt and limestone aggregate (BA and LA) in asphalt concrete were evaluated. To achieve this, firstly, microwave absorption capabilities of BA and LA were determined. In the second step of the study, porous asphalt concrete specimens were prepared, and they were damaged by the indirect tensile (IDT) strength test at low temperatures. After that, damaged specimens were healed via microwave heating, and they were damaged again by the IDT strength test. In the end, the healing index of the specimens was determined as the proportion of healed specimen’s strength to the original. It has been found that BA is almost three times more microwave absorber material than LA, and asphalt specimens containing BA showed better healing performance. It has also been demonstrated for the first time that aluminum shavings might be a better option than steel shavings to accelerate microwave healing.

Performance of New Absorber Coating Strategy in Solar Air Heaters: An Experimental Case Study

Asphalt materials commonly have high absorption coefficients, and their surface temperature reaches as high as 80 oC during daytime hours since their surfaces are exposed to solar radiation for long periods. Hence, asphalt pavements can easily be converted to solar air heaters (SAHs) to collect solar energy. Even though asphalt materials have low thermal conductivity, resulting in a weak convection heat exchange rate between the flowing air and asphalt surface. The current experimental study analyzes utilizing aluminum shavings as asphalt coating materials to improve SAHs’ thermal performance. To this aim, a serpentine SAH prototype was constructed, and several sensors were utilized to monitor its dynamic thermal response. Black-painted aluminum shavings were utilized as coating materials to improve the convective heat exchange rate and increase the roughness of the absorber surface. Two scenarios were considered, including the uncoated absorber plate and coated one with 0.2 kg aluminum shavings. The experiments were carried out for two air mass flow rates of 0.02 kg/s and 0.03 kg/s under field conditions. Based on the air mass flow rate, the coated absorber reaches higher temperatures, approximately 5 oC to 9 oC, than the uncoated one. The acquired results illustrate that the coated SAH has nearly 4 oC to 5 oC higher maximum exhaust air temperature; hence, the coating strategy improves the thermal efficiency by 24.75% and 44% in two air mass flow rates of 0.02 kg/s and 0.03 kg/s, respectively.

Aluminum smelting by physical process of electromagnetic wave generation with microwave oven

In Colombia, there is a demand for quantities of metal parts of iron, steel, and aluminum for different purposes, which requires the demand for large quantities of energy leading to a high emission of gaseous pollutants; the need to start recycling and reuse, as in the case of aluminum, which is used in products such as foods used in soda cans, beers, fruit syrup, tuna, grains, etc. In addition, there are other residues such as aluminum chips that are generated from machining processes, everything is based on the preservation of the environment. This project presents a new microwave oven technique to transform aluminum chip into blocks or sheets of aluminum to be reused, from the recycling of aluminum shavings and scrap produced mainly by machine-tool shops and machining centers, when, after carrying out the washing processes prior to casting, microwave irradiation is used as a physical property of material state transformation by implementing high frequencies that allow heat to be produced by high frequency vibrations, All this in order to perform the fusion process in less time and obtain aluminum with better mechanical properties.

Studying the Possibility of Obtaining Titanium Powder of Various Sizes by Alumino-Thermic Reduction

The main aim of this work is to obtain a compact spherical titanium powder by the metallo-thermic reduction. The feedstock is TiO2 (rutile), and aluminum shavings are used as the reducing metal. In the reduction process granules of titanium powder and corundum were obtained. For cleaning titanium powder from corundum, various alkaline and acid processing methods were used. When using the alkaline treatment method of the powder, obtained after reduction of sand and floury rutile by aluminum shavings, its weight decrease was 36-37%.

Empirical investigation of a photovoltaic-thermal system with phase change materials and aluminum shavings porous media

Since a high photovoltaic panel (PV) temperature impacts the electrical output power, especially in tropical countries, the use of some cooling methods such as fluid flows, phase change materials (PCMs), and porous media has been suggested as an attractive option. In this study, these methods are integrated experimentally; a novel low-cost porous medium is developed using aluminum shavings, considered as waste materials in some industries, to increase the thermal conductivity of the phase change material. Then, the combination of this porous medium with salt hydrate is added to the water-based photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system; the electrical, thermal, and exergy efficiencies of the units are measured in July and December. The results of this research show that the photovoltaic-thermal unit, integrated with phase change material and porous medium, would have a high cooling performance by reducing the average temperature of the photovoltaic panel. The 24 °C reduction would augment the electrical efficiency by 2.5%, compared to solo PV, in the warm month. Also, it is found that, by using a porous medium, the melting time of the phase change material decreases by about 19%–25%. This method yields a maximum of 4.34% exergy efficiency improvement, compared to the single photovoltaic unit.

Exploitation of chips and scrap aluminum through physical processes for the development of aluminum sheets and bars

Colombia manufactures metals such as iron and aluminum, which consume a lot of energy to carry out these processes. There are many techniques to recycle metals and other elements to reduce the amount of energy in manufacturing processes, since smelting is generated with already manufactured materials, as in the case of aluminum, which uses recycled products such as soft drinks and beer cans. In addition, there is another type of scrap metal, such as aluminum shavings generated by machining processes, with an amount that varies from a small percentage to 70-90% of the original part. This project seeks to transform the aluminum shavings through physical processes with the application of temperature in aluminum material to be used again. The process begins with the collection of chips from mechanical workshops, in this case, from the machine tool laboratories of the “Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander, Ocaña, Colombia”. Standard procedures will be carried out before the casting process by developing firing curves and phase diagrams of aluminum, where the research focuses on generating aluminum metal to be used again in the laboratories of the same university.

Coupled processes of aluminum oxidation and asphaltite hydrogenation in supercritical water flow

The conversion of asphaltite (empirical formula CH1.23N0.017S0.037O0.01) in supercritical water (SCW) flow at 400°C and 30 MPa with and without addition of aluminum shavings is investigated. The composition and amount of the products and insoluble conversion residue are determined by means of liquid-adsorption chromatography, elemental analysis, IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. It is found that SCW not only dissolves asphaltite components, but also participates in redox reactions. Hydrogen formation and heat evolution during aluminum oxidation by SCW promote the in situ hydrogenation of asphaltite, increase the fraction of aromatic and polyaromatic compounds in conversion products, decrease the yield of the insoluble conversion residue from 44.5 to 11.3%, and decrease the olefine fraction. When aluminum is added, the degree of asphaltite desulfurization that results from sulfur removal in the form of H2S increases by more than 3.5 times.

Hydrogenation of bitumen in situ in supercritical water flow with and without addition of zinc and aluminum

The conversion of bitumen (the gross-formula CH1.56N0.01S0.007) in supercritical water (SCW) flow at 400°C, 30MPa with and without addition of zinc and aluminum shavings into bitumen has been studied. For the conversion without addition of 〈Zn〉 and 〈Al〉 the yield of volatile and liquid products was 3.1 and 47.3%, respectively, in relation to the weight of bitumen. As a result of a chemical interaction of H2O molecules with bitumen, oxygen atoms appeared in these products and conversion residue; the amount of hydrogen in them being increased. When 〈Zn〉 or 〈Al〉 was added, the conversion and hydrogenation of bitumen significantly increased owing to hydrogen evolution during the oxidation of metals by SCW. This oxidation via the synthesis of ZnO and Al2O3 nanoparticles was accompanied by on-site heating of reactants. Moreover, when adding 〈Zn〉 and 〈Al〉 into bitumen, the yield of the volatile products increased up to 15.3 and 38.2%, respectively. The addition of 〈Zn〉 resulted in the yield increase of the liquid products up to 62.3%, of the resins up to 33.5%, the content of oxygen in the products being increased too. While the addition of 〈Al〉 resulted in the yield decrease of the resins up to 7.5% and the yield increase of the oil up to 36.1%, no oxygen atoms in the structure of the liquid products being detected. A portion of sulfur was removed from bitumen via the SCW conversion with addition of 〈Zn〉 in terms of the ZnO+H2S=ZnS+H2O reaction. These and other peculiarities of the conversion and hydrogenation of bitumen in situ are reported in the present paper.

Copper cementation on aluminum canning sheet

Abstract The rates of Cu(II) cementation on chemically polished strips of beer-can aluminum and on impure aluminum shavings were studied in acidic cupric sulphate solutions. The rate constant for copper cementation on aluminum canning sheet was measured as a function of the temperature, the initial Cu++ concentration and the hydrogen ion concentration. The results are compared with those previously determined for copper cementation on a pure aluminum disc. Chloride ion promotes rapid copper cementation on canning sheet aluminum and it assists in dislodging the copper from the sheet.The practical aspects of copper cementation on aluminum shavings were studied in experiments with a small aerated cone unit. The copper product was coarsely granular. The cementation rate increased linearly with the initial Cu++ concentration. The efficiency of copper cementation on aluminum was determined and compared with that for copper cementation on scrap iron. Resume Les auteurs ont etudie le taux de deposition de Cu (II)...

High Temperature Bath Made from Aluminum Shavings

High Temperature Bath Made from Aluminum Shavings