TY - CONF

T1 - Decarbonizing Aluminum Recycling: Evaluating Hydrogen in a Lab-Scale Tilting Rotary Furnace

AU - Tichy, Stefan

PY - 2025/3

Y1 - 2025/3

N2 - The use of hydrogen (H2) instead of natural gas (NG, main component methane CH4) is considered a promising solution for decarbonization of aluminum recycling furnaces. While previous studies have focused exclusively on the effects of hydrogen during the melting of clean scrap in hearth furnaces, this work evaluates the use of hydrogen for melting low-grade scrap with the addition of salt flux in a lab-scale tilting rotary furnace. The evaluation includes experiments conducted with both H₂ and CH4, analyzing gas and energy demand, metal yield, hydrogen content in the liquid metal, and the properties of the resulting salt slag. The results indicate that substituting the gaseous energy carrier in the melting process does not negatively impact either the quality of the resulting secondary aluminum or the economic process efficiency.

AB - The use of hydrogen (H2) instead of natural gas (NG, main component methane CH4) is considered a promising solution for decarbonization of aluminum recycling furnaces. While previous studies have focused exclusively on the effects of hydrogen during the melting of clean scrap in hearth furnaces, this work evaluates the use of hydrogen for melting low-grade scrap with the addition of salt flux in a lab-scale tilting rotary furnace. The evaluation includes experiments conducted with both H₂ and CH4, analyzing gas and energy demand, metal yield, hydrogen content in the liquid metal, and the properties of the resulting salt slag. The results indicate that substituting the gaseous energy carrier in the melting process does not negatively impact either the quality of the resulting secondary aluminum or the economic process efficiency.

M3 - Poster

T2 - TMS 2025: 154th Annual Meeting & Exhibition

Y2 - 23 March 2025 through 27 March 2025

ER -