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Title: Experimental processing of salt slags from an aluminum dross furnace

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5029178

The Federal Bureau of Mines has developed a hydrometallurgical method to recover aluminum, aluminum oxide, and fluxing salts from aluminum salt slags. The slag is leached with water at room temperature to produce a saturated brine slurry. Screening of the slurry yields an aluminum-rich fraction that can be returned to the dross furnace. The remaining slurry is vacuum filtered, yielding a clear brine solution and an aluminum oxide filter cake. Evaporation of the clear filtrate produces a high-purity fluxing salt for reuse in the dross furnace. Over 80 pct of the metallic aluminum is recovered in the aluminum-rich oversize fraction, while essentially all the fluxing salts are recovered by evaporation. This report contains the final results of an investigation on a process research unit scale, an economic evaluation of the method, and recommendations to further improve the process.

Research Organization:
Bureau of Mines, Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
5029178
Report Number(s):
BM-RI-8446
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English