Design of an Aluminum Foundry with Ceramic Fiber Insulation

Abstract

Aluminum is one of the most versatile engineering metals, finding its use in a variety of fields including construction, architecture, aerospace, automotive, consumer products, and many more. The high demand for aluminum production is driven by its advantageous physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, such as a high strength to weight ratio and good corrosion resistance. Additionally, aluminum can be recycled using processes that require only a fraction of the energy required for primary production. Aluminum recycling is primarily accomplished by melting in foundries. In some aluminum foundries, a large amount of energy is lost due to poor insulation and an inaccurate knowledge of the crucible temperature. This project focused on designing a safe, efficient electric aluminum foundry. Using theoretical calculations, an electric foundry was designed to melt 3.0 kg of aluminum cans using ~9 MJ of energy. A prototype was successfully fabricated and tested with attention to the structural, thermal, and electrical design aspects. Experiments showed that the foundry was capable of melting 3.0 kg of aluminum cans using ~11 MJ of energy, which was close to the theoretical calculations. The normalized energy usage of the foundry was ~6.9 MJ per kg of pure aluminum produced, which compares well with benchmarked aluminum recycling foundries.