The Home Machinist!

I have a substantial amount of aluminum dross and am wondering if there is any way possible to reclaim it. Does anyone know how alcoa goes about this or if it is even feasible?

The aluminum skim you have is mostly oxides and combinations of crap from the scrap and paint that gets into the melt. Yours may be 95% aluminum, but it must be processed. Dont expect a small recycler to be interested. It must go back into a reduction furnace and be electrically reduced, and that isn't happening on small scale operations. I dont know of anybody accepting aluminum melts or runs, any where around Chicago. Burnt cans and similar stuff, they put in the dumper here.

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Big Dave

Be Alert! The world needs more Lerts.

Yep, pretty much what Big Dave said. I have memories of a friend in Utah that operated a foundry. He saved his dross until there was a semi load, at which time it was returned to a major processor. Don't have any details, just the memory of seeing his huge store of dross.

Harold

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Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.

Depending on how drossy your dross is; I've saved dross heated it and used a large steel ladle to squeeze out still metallic Al.

While that's a way to recover aluminum, it leaves a great deal to be desired in that molten aluminum absorbs iron, which has a negative affect on its properties. Do it with a refractory lining and you'd benefit by recovering aluminum of better quality.

Welcome to the forum!

Harold

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Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.

Hi and thank you.

That is very true, I tried to keep the steel cool enough to prevent the Al from wetting it, but it's still not ideal...

Just build a ceramic centrifuge