Highly Efficient Vacuum Smelting of Aluminum

The goal of this SBIR project is to develop and demonstrate an innovative aluminum smelting technology that will significantly increase the range of aluminum alloys that can be manufactured from recycling of scrap aluminum. This will result in reduction of need for primary aluminum with corresponding 95% energy and CO2 emission benefits. The proposed melting of pre-sorted aluminum alloys using UHV’s patented high throughput sorter funded by ARPA-E METALS program in an energy efficient vacuum furnace avoids the typical 5% metal loss due to oxidation of molten metal. In addition, pre-sorting scrap into different categories (cast, wrought, extrusion and aerospace) allows lower cost production of high value aluminum alloys without the need for adding alloying elements to primary aluminum. Currently ~60% of total aluminum usuage in US comes from recycling, and the proposed technology can be used as a point of use smelter at the various foundries resulting in almost 50% energy savings during melting of recycled aluminum to make products.