Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Vacuum Distillation-Treated Spent Potlining as an Alternative Fuel for Metallurgical Furnaces

  • Aluminum: Recycling and Environmental Footprint
  • Published:
JOM Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Spent potlining (SPL) is a well-known hazardous waste from primary aluminum production, and recycling it as an alternative fuel for metallurgical furnaces is a promising application. However, because of the presence of volatile fluorides and fluoride compounds, there are significant environmental concerns and practical/engineering issues. An environmentally friendly technique involving pretreatment of SPL first cut at 700°C by vacuum distillation (VDM) is proposed herein. Using this process route, volatile and leachable fluorides (NaF, LiF, and Na3AlF6) in SPL first cut samples were successfully recycled. The distillation process was found to be beneficial for improving the fixed carbon content of the samples, and the combustion characteristics of the VDM residue were superior to those of raw untreated SPL. Such VDM residue could potentially be used in metallurgical furnaces and burners, with promising applications such as partial or full replacement of coal in pulverized coal injection (PCI) systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. D. Yu, V. Mambakkam, A.H. Rivera, D. Li, and K. Chattopadhyay, Alum. Int. Today 27, 17 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  2. T.K. Pong, R.J. Adrien, J. Besida, T.A. O’Donnell, and D.G. Wood, Process Saf. Environ. Prot. 78, 204 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. M.J. Palmieri, J. Luber, L.F. Andrade-Vieira, and L.C. Davide, Genet. Toxicol. Environ. Mutagen. 763, 30 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. W.K. O’Connor, P.C. Turner, and G.W. Addison, “Method for processing aluminum spent potliner in a graphite electrode arc furnace” (United States Patent). http://www.freepatentsonline.com.

  5. D.G. Brooks, E.R. Cutshall, D.B. Banker, and D.F. Strahan, Essential Readings in Light Metals (New York: Springer, 2016), pp. 1044–1048.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. P.D. Indurkar, Doctoral thesis, Rourkela, Odisha (2014).

  7. D. Miksa, M. Homsak, and N. Samec, Waste Manag. Res. 21, 467 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. G. Holywell and R. Breault, JOM 65, 1441 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. R.P. Pawlek, TMS Light Met. 2012, 1313 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  10. B. Meirelles and H. Santos, TMS Light Met. 2014, 565 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  11. I.V. Flores, F. Fraiz, R.A.L. Junior, and M.C. Bagatini, J. Mater. Res. Technol. in press, 2017.

  12. D. Yu and K. Chattopadhyay, Can. Metall. Q. 55, 251 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. L. Gao, S. Mostaghel, S. Ray, and K. Chattopadhyay, Metall. Mater. Trans. E 3, 1 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  14. D. Yu, V. Mambakkam, D. Li, K. Chattopadhyay, and L. Gao, TMS Light Met. 1, 579 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  15. A.M. Bernardes, D.C.R. Espinosa, and J.A.S. Tenório, J. Power Sour. 130, 291 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. L. Zhang and Z. Xu, Environ. Sci. Technol. 43, 7074 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. L. Zhang and Z. Xu, J. Hazard. Mater. 321, 18 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. H.A. Øye. Discussion of industrial spent potlining treatment, in: Proceedings of 35th International ICSOBA Conference, Hamburg, Germany (2017).

  19. China’s State Environmental Protection Administration. GB 5085.1-2007 Identification standards for hazardous wastes—identification for corrosivity. http://www.gb688.cn/bzgk/gb/index. Accessed 25th April 2007.

  20. United States Environmental Protection Agency. SW-846 Test Method 1311: Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. https://www.epa.gov/hw-sw846/sw-846-test-method-1311-toxicity-characteristic-leaching-procedure. Accessed July 1992.

  21. B.I. Silveira, A.E.M. Dantas, J.E.M. Blasques, and R.K.P. Santos, J. Hazard. Mater. 98, 183 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. China’s State Environmental Protection Administration. GB/T 1574-2007 Test method for analysis of the coal ash. http://www.gb688.cn/bzgk/gb/index. Accessed 1 Nov 2007.

  23. S.V. Abramov, N.S. Chilingarov, A.Y. Borshchevsky, and L.N. Sidorov, Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 231, 31 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. R.S. Scheffee and J.L. Margrave, J. Chem. Phys. 31, 1682 (1959).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. A.V. Proshkin, A.M. Pogodaev, P.V. Polyakov, V.V. Pingin, and I.A. Yarosh, Refract. Ind. Ceram. 84, 49 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  26. V. Dassylva-Raymond, L.I. Kiss, S. Poncsak, P. Chartrand, J.F. Bilodeau, and S. Guérard, TMS Light Met. 2014, 603 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  27. M. Renó, F.M. Torres, R.J. da Silva, J. Santos, and M. Melo, Energy Convers. Manag. 75, 98 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Postdoctoral Research Foundation of China (No. 2018M633421), Science Foundation of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education (Grant No. 2017FH001-120), and Initial Foundation for Advanced Talents of Honghe University (Grant No. XJ16B02).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science, Hong He University, Mengzi, 661199, China

    Nan Li & Yan Jiang

  2. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Xiang Lv

  3. Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Room 508, Metallurgical and Mining Building, Kunming, 650093, China

    Lei Gao

  4. Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cross Appointed to Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Process Metallurgy Research Labs, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E4, Canada

    Kinnor Chattopadhyay

Authors
  1. Nan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yan Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiang Lv
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lei Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kinnor Chattopadhyay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lei Gao.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, N., Jiang, Y., Lv, X. et al. Vacuum Distillation-Treated Spent Potlining as an Alternative Fuel for Metallurgical Furnaces. JOM 71, 2978–2985 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03443-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03443-6

Search

Navigation