TWI896079B - Deoxidizer with aluminum-containing material - Google Patents

Abstract

A deoxidizer with aluminum-containing material having a cylindrical shape. The deoxidizer with aluminum-containing material is made by extruding multiple aluminum ingots. Multiple of the aluminum ingots are made by compacting an aluminum material. The aluminum material contains multiple carbon particles, and the carbon particles are formed by carbonization after heating of an organic compound.

Description

Deoxidized materials made of aluminum

A deoxidized material, particularly a deoxidized material made of aluminum-containing material.

Circular economics has become a prominent concept in modern society. Unlike the traditional linear economic model, which follows a continuous cycle from resource extraction to production, consumption, and eventual disposal, circular economics maximizes the value of resources through recycling, regeneration, and reuse, aiming to minimize resource consumption and waste and achieve sustainable economic development. The metals industry is a major source of resource consumption and environmental pollution within the current manufacturing sector, making the implementation of a circular economy crucial for this sector.

While many industries have already implemented metal recycling to save significant amounts of raw materials and energy and reduce carbon emissions, the current aluminum recycling model requires smelting and tempering recycled aluminum, which consumes significant amounts of energy, requires numerous operations, and results in high operating costs. Furthermore, oxidation caused by heating leads to significant yield loss and waste of aluminum, and the remelting of scrap aluminum produces toxic fumes and slag.

At the same time, to optimize or simplify the production process, continuous processes can not only reduce time and costs, but also gradually reduce labor waste. In view of this, the development of low-energy and efficient aluminum recycling methods, equipment, or materials has become a pressing goal in related fields.

To address the problems previously disclosed, the present invention provides a deoxidized material made from an aluminum-containing material. The deoxidized material is in the form of an elongated cylindrical strip and is formed by extruding a plurality of aluminum ingots. The aluminum ingots are formed by compacting an aluminum-containing material containing a plurality of carbon particles, wherein the carbon particles are formed by carbonizing an organic compound through heating.

The carbon particles are composed of the following elements in terms of weight percentage: 85% to 95% carbon; 2% to 8% oxygen; and 1% to 10% aluminum.

The deoxidized material defines an extrusion direction and a radial direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction, and a hardness ratio between the extrusion direction and the radial direction is greater than 1.2.

The aluminum ingot has a cross-sectional diameter of 5 cm to 15 cm and a length of 30 cm to 120 cm.

The aluminum-containing material is made from a recycled aluminum material, which is aluminum chips generated during a cutting process of an aluminum alloy block, or recycled aluminum cans and aluminum foil package scraps.

The aluminum-containing material is repeatedly subjected to pressure in a compacting space, so that the aluminum-containing material gradually shrinks under the pressure and forms the aluminum ingot corresponding to the compacting space.

The plurality of aluminum ingots are extruded from an extrusion space to form the deoxidized material. The extrusion space is an oxygen-free space filled with an inert gas.

A working pressure in the extrusion space is greater than an ambient pressure outside the extrusion space.

The organic compound includes cutting fluid, mineral oil, emulsifier, water, anti-rust additive, defoaming agent, printing paint, fiber material, coating, resin and polyester.

The cross section contains 20 to 500 carbon particles.

To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the accompanying figures required for describing each embodiment. Obviously, the accompanying figures described below are merely examples or embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can apply the present invention to other similar scenarios based on these figures without inventive effort. Unless otherwise apparent from the context or otherwise indicated, the same reference numerals in the figures represent the same structure or operation.

As used herein and in the claims, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the terms "a," "an," "an," or "the" are not intended to refer to the singular but include the plural. Generally, the terms "comprises" and "include" indicate only the inclusion of the steps and elements specifically identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list; a method or apparatus may also include additional steps or elements.

Flowcharts are used throughout this disclosure to illustrate the operations performed by systems according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that preceding or following operations do not necessarily need to be performed in exact order. Instead, the steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Furthermore, other operations may be added to these processes, or one or more operations may be removed from these processes.

The present invention provides a deoxidizing material made of an aluminum-containing material. The deoxidizing material is made from a plurality of aluminum ingots A. Because it includes an aluminum-containing material, the deoxidizing material has an oxygen-removing effect and is suitable for industrial processes requiring a low-oxygen or oxygen-free environment. For example, in the preparation of an alloy, the presence of oxygen may affect the alloy's properties. The oxygen may react with the metal used to make the alloy during high-temperature smelting to form a metal oxide, causing the resulting alloy to lose its original properties. The deoxidizing material provided by the present invention can preferentially react with the oxygen before the oxygen oxidizes the metal, thereby eliminating the risk of oxidation and improving the quality of the alloy.

Please refer to Figure 1, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of a deoxidized material made of aluminum provided by the present invention. The deoxidized material can be shaped to correspond to an extrusion cavity 11 of an extrusion device 10 used in its production. In this embodiment, the deoxidized material is in the form of an elongated cylindrical strip.

In order to more fully understand the technical features and practical effects of the deoxidation material provided by the present invention and to implement it according to the contents of the specification, this specification further describes in detail the preferred process and step embodiments of the deoxidation material as shown in Figures 2A, 2B and 3.

Please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B , which provide some preferred embodiments of the extrusion device 10 for producing the deoxidized material according to the present invention. The extrusion device 10 includes the extrusion chamber 11. The extrusion chamber 11 internally forms an extrusion space P. This specification defines the extrusion space P as a feed end P1 corresponding to the end of the extrusion device 10 into which the aluminum ingot A is poured; The outlet space P corresponds to one end of the extrusion device 10 through which the deoxidized material is extruded, and is a discharge end P2. The extrusion chamber 11 includes an extrusion die 12 and an inlet opening 13 at positions corresponding to the inlet end P1 and the discharge end P2. A plurality of aluminum ingots A enter the extrusion space P through the inlet opening 13 and are extruded through the extrusion die 12 to form the deoxidized material.

Please refer to Figures 2A, 2B, and 3, which are flow charts of the continuous extrusion method for producing aluminum-containing materials provided by the present invention. The steps include:

Step S1, pressurizing the aluminum-containing material to form the aluminum ingot A: An aluminum-containing material is pressed into a tablet shape to form the aluminum ingot A.

The aluminum-containing material may be a recycled aluminum material. For example, the aluminum-containing material may be aluminum chips generated during a cutting process of an aluminum alloy block, or recycled aluminum cans and aluminum foil scraps.

The aluminum-containing material referred to in the present invention is a metal element having the largest overall content of aluminum.

Preferably, the aluminum-containing material can be recycled aluminum from a single source. The so-called single source means that the recycled aluminum is aluminum alloy scrap of the same alloy system or the same American Aluminum Association alloy grade, or the recycled aluminum is aluminum chips produced by the same process.

Furthermore, the aluminum-containing material may undergo a pre-treatment before executing step S1. The pre-treatment may include cleaning, crushing, air separation, magnetic separation, or a combination of these steps. The pre-treatment step is not absolutely necessary; the appropriate pre-treatment method may be selected based on the source of the aluminum-containing material.

The aluminum-containing material may be cleaned by rinsing or soaking it in a liquid. Preferably, the liquid is an aqueous solution containing a surfactant. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the recycled aluminum material is aluminum chips, and only a preliminary cleaning of the recycled aluminum material with the aqueous solution is required to remove the cutting fluid.

The pulverization of the aluminum-containing material is to pre-treat the aluminum-containing material to form a powder. The powder referred to in the present invention refers to particles with a maximum equivalent spherical diameter of less than 10 mm. The particles can be in the form of flakes, needles, strips, spheres, or any other irregular shape.

The aforementioned air separation of the aluminum-containing material utilizes the difference in suspension velocity between materials to remove larger impurities with the help of wind. The aforementioned magnetic separation of the aluminum-containing material is performed based on the difference in magnetic properties of the materials to remove ferromagnetic metals.

In this embodiment, the aluminum-containing material is pulverized after pretreatment and then placed in a compacting chamber to perform step S1. In this step, the aluminum-containing material is repeatedly subjected to pressure in the compacting chamber, gradually shrinking. At this point, more aluminum-containing material is added to the compacting chamber until the aluminum-containing material is formed into the aluminum ingot A corresponding to the compacting chamber. Preferably, the compacting chamber is a cylinder having a cross-section with a diameter of 5 to 15 cm and a length of 30 to 120 cm. In a preferred embodiment, the cross-section has a diameter of 9 cm and a length of 60 cm.

Step S2, preheating the aluminum ingot A: placing the aluminum ingot A in a heated space and providing a heating temperature for preheating. Preferably, the heating temperature is between 250°C and 400°C.

It is worth noting that the purpose of the heating temperature is to reduce the pressure when the aluminum ingot A is subsequently extruded to form the deoxidized material.

In addition, referring to FIG. 2 , when the aluminum ingot A is heated, an organic compound attached to the aluminum-containing material can further carbonize, resulting in the cross-section of the aluminum ingot A containing a plurality of carbon particles B. The carbon particles B have excellent high-temperature resistance. The carbon particles B can enhance the high-temperature resistance of the aluminum ingot A, allowing the aluminum ingot A to be processed in a high-temperature environment. In addition, the presence of the carbon particles B can improve the thermal conductivity of the aluminum ingot A, allowing the aluminum ingot A to exhibit excellent thermal conductivity at high temperatures.

The carbon particles B may be composed of the following elements in the following composition and weight percentages: 85% to 95% carbon, 2% to 8% oxygen, and 1% to 10% aluminum.

In a preferred embodiment, the carbon particles B contain the following elements in weight percentage: 90.99% carbon, 4.22% oxygen, 0.64% magnesium, 2.79% aluminum, 1.16% silicon, 0.10% chlorine, and 0.11% iron.

The organic compound remaining in the aluminum-containing material includes, for example, any cutting fluid on the surface of the aluminum chips. The cutting fluid may include mineral oil, emulsifier, water, anti-rust additives, defoaming agents, etc., or recycled aluminum cans and/or aluminum foil packages, including surface printing paint, fiber materials, or inner layer leak-proof coatings. The leak-proof coatings may be composed of various lipids such as wax, various resins such as epoxy resins, or various polyesters such as acrylic copolymers or polycarbonates. Most organic compounds require special processing steps and consume a considerable amount of time, energy, and resources to be completely removed. However, in step S2 of the present invention, the organic compounds are directly carbonized by preheating the aluminum ingot A. This not only ensures the material quality of the aluminum ingot A, but also allows the aluminum-containing material to be directly converted into the aluminum ingot A without going through the tedious process of removing the organic compounds. This effectively reduces material, labor, and time costs, optimizing the metal recycling process.

Step S3, extruding the deoxidized material: A plurality of aluminum ingots A are stacked and placed in the extrusion space P. The extrusion space P applies an extrusion pressure to the aluminum ingots A from the feed end P1 toward the discharge end P2, causing the aluminum ingots A to be extruded toward the discharge end P2 to form the deoxidized material. The extrusion pressure is preferably provided by an extrusion rod 14 movable within the extrusion chamber 11. The extrusion rod 14 is movable between the feed end P1 and the discharge end P2 of the extrusion space P, and extrudes the aluminum ingots A from the feed end P1 toward the discharge end P2.

Preferably, the extrusion space P is an oxygen-free space. More preferably, the extrusion space P is filled with an inert gas. The inert gas can be introduced into the extrusion space P through a gas inlet 15 included in the extrusion chamber 11. The gas inlet 15 is connected to the extrusion space P and its other end is connected to a gas delivery device. The inert gas enters the extrusion space P through the gas delivery device and the gas inlet 15, thereby increasing the operating pressure of the extrusion space P to a value greater than the ambient pressure outside the extrusion chamber 11.

Furthermore, since the inert gas fills the extrusion space P, the working pressure of the extrusion space P is greater than the ambient pressure outside the extrusion space P. This can prevent the oxygen-insulated space from being damaged and losing its oxygen-insulating effect when the feed end P1 is filled with at least one aluminum ingot A.

When the extrusion rod 14 moves to a farthest extrusion position in the extrusion space P toward the discharge end P2, the feed opening 13 is closed by the extrusion rod 14, and at least a portion of at least one aluminum ingot A remains in the extrusion space P. At least one aluminum ingot A is connected to the deoxidized material at the extrusion die 12 at the discharge end P2.

Furthermore, the feed opening 13 corresponds to the feed end P1 of the farthest extrusion position. After the extrusion rod 14 moves to the farthest extrusion position, it shifts toward the feed end P1, so that the feed opening 13 is connected to the extrusion space P, and the aluminum ingot A is replenished into the extrusion space P.

When the extrusion rod 14 is restarted and displaced toward the discharge end P2, the extrusion rod 14 and the replenished aluminum ingot A are extruded toward the discharge end P2, so that the deoxidized material can be continuously extruded and formed.

The extrusion space P includes an extrusion temperature, which is preferably between 400°C and 550°C. Preferably, the extrusion temperature can be provided by a heating device from the extrusion die 12.

The extrusion pressure extrudes the plurality of aluminum ingots A at an extrusion speed ranging from 0.2 meters per minute to 2 meters per minute. The so-called extrusion speed is the speed at which the aluminum bars are formed by hot extrusion.

The discharge port P2 can be configured to produce deoxidized materials of varying sizes by using different extrusion methods or mold designs. The extrusion method can be direct or indirect extrusion; the mold can provide a solid or hollow cross-sectional shape for the deoxidized material.

Step S4, Filling the Extrusion Space P with Aluminum Ingots: As the deoxidized material is formed, the plurality of aluminum ingots A in the extrusion space P are gradually consumed. Before the last aluminum ingot A is extruded, the extrusion pressure is paused, and at least one aluminum ingot A is filled toward the inlet end P1 of the extrusion space P. Step S3 is then repeated to apply the extrusion pressure. This allows the deoxidized material to be continuously extruded, requiring only the addition of aluminum ingots A before the last aluminum ingot A is consumed. This allows the deoxidized material to be further applied in a variety of processing processes based on the needs of the finished product, without being restricted by shape, size, or structure.

Furthermore, the deoxidized material has anisotropic mechanical properties. The deoxidized material is manufactured in the shape of an elongated cylindrical strip, defining an extrusion direction along the direction of extrusion movement of the elongated cylindrical strip, and a radial direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction. The ratio of hardness between the extrusion direction and the radial direction is greater than 1.2, and more preferably greater than 1.5. In a preferred embodiment, the Rockwell hardness test using the HRF hardness scale, i.e., using a steel ball with a diameter of 1.588 mm and a load of 60 kgf, measures the value measured in the extrusion direction between 23.9 and 42.5, while the value measured in the radial direction ranges from 63.1 to 76.7.

Referring to Figure 4, X-ray diffraction analysis was used to measure the surface of the deoxidized material perpendicular to the extrusion direction. It was observed that the crystals of the deoxidized material were mostly arranged in a (200) orientation, as indicated by the Miller index, indicating that the deoxidized material has a high degree of preferred crystal orientation. Furthermore, some carbon diffraction peaks (in the triangles) were observed in the deoxidized material, indicating that the carbon particles B, resulting from the carbonization of the organic compound, are present in the deoxidized material.

From the above description, it can be seen that the deoxidation material provided by the present invention can achieve the following effects:

1. The aluminum-containing material provided by the present invention does not require heating until the metal material is molten before further processing, saving a large amount of resources and energy while also preventing the generation of toxic fumes such as dioxin and slag after metal processing.

2. The deoxidized material of this invention eliminates the need for heating the aluminum-containing material to melt during production, effectively avoiding the yield loss caused by oxidation. This overcomes the problem of existing recycled aluminum reprocessing technologies generating new waste, enabling the utilization rate of recycled aluminum to reach 96%, significantly increasing the value of the recycled aluminum.

3. The present invention reduces the pressure during subsequent extrusion of the aluminum ingot A to form the deoxidized material by preheating the aluminum ingot A. This also facilitates the carbonization of the organic compound attached to the aluminum-containing material, eliminating the cumbersome organic compound removal process required in conventional techniques and simultaneously stabilizing the quality of the aluminum ingot A.

4. By setting the extrusion space P, the extrusion device 10 can replenish multiple aluminum ingots A while continuously extruding the deoxidized material, thereby achieving a continuous extrusion molding effect of the deoxidized material.

It should be noted that, based on the explanations and elaborations in the above specification, those skilled in the art may further modify and alter the above-described embodiments. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and described above; equivalent modifications and variations of the present disclosure are also within the scope of protection of the claims of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while this specification employs certain terminology, these terms are used solely for convenience of explanation and do not constitute any limitation of the invention.

10: Extrusion equipment 11: Extrusion chamber 12: Extrusion die 13: Feed opening 14: Extrusion rod 15: Air port A: Aluminum ingot B: Carbon granules P: Extrusion space P1: Feed end P2: Discharge end S1-S4: Steps

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2A is a diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in the first state; Figure 2B is a diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in the second state; Figure 3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 4 is an X-ray diffraction analysis diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A: Aluminum ingots

B: Carbon particles

Claims (9)

A deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material, the deoxidized material being in the shape of an elongated cylindrical strip and formed by extruding a plurality of aluminum ingots, wherein: The plurality of aluminum ingots are formed by compacting an aluminum-containing material, the aluminum-containing material comprising a plurality of carbon particles, wherein the carbon particles are formed by carbonizing an organic compound upon heating; The aluminum-containing material does not generate toxic fumes after processing, wherein the toxic fumes include dioxin; The deoxidized material defines an extrusion direction and a radial direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction, wherein the ratio of hardness in the extrusion direction to the radial direction is greater than 1.2. A deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 1, wherein the carbon particles are composed of the following elements in composition and weight percentage: 85% to 95% carbon; 2% to 8% oxygen; and 1% to 10% aluminum. The deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 2, wherein a cross-sectional diameter of the aluminum ingot is 5 cm to 15 cm; and a length of the aluminum ingot is 30 cm to 120 cm. A deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 1, wherein the aluminum-containing material is made from a recycled aluminum material, the aluminum-containing material being aluminum chips generated during a cutting process of an aluminum alloy block, or recycled aluminum cans and aluminum foil package scraps. The deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 4, wherein the aluminum-containing material is repeatedly subjected to pressure through a compaction space, so that the aluminum-containing material gradually shrinks under the pressure and forms the aluminum ingot corresponding to the compaction space. The deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 5, wherein a plurality of aluminum ingots are extruded from an extrusion space to form the deoxidized material, the extrusion space being an oxygen-insulated space filled with an inert gas. A deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 6, wherein a working pressure in the extrusion space is greater than an ambient pressure outside the extrusion space. A deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 1, wherein the organic compound comprises cutting fluid, mineral oil, emulsifier, water, anti-rust additive, defoaming agent, printing paint, fiber material, coating, resin and polyester. The deoxidized material made of an aluminum-containing material as described in claim 1, wherein the cross-section contains 20 to 500 carbon particles.