Removal of primary iron rich phase from aluminum-silicon melt by centrifugal separation

Recycling is a major consideration in continued aluminum use due to the enormous demand for high quality products. Some impurity elements gradually accumulate through the repetitive reuse of aluminum alloy scrap. Of them, the iron content should be suppressed under the allowed limit. In the present research, a novel separation method was introduced to remove primary iron-rich intermetallic compounds by centrifugation during solidification of Al-Si-Fe alloys. This method does not use the density difference between two phases as in other centrifugal methods, but uses the order of solidification in Al-Si-Fe alloys, because iron promotes the formation of intermetallic compounds with other alloying elements as a primary phase. Two Al-Si-Fe alloys which have different iron contents were chosen as the starting materials. The iron-rich phase could be efficiently removed by centrifuging under a centrifugal force of 40 g. Coarse intermetallic compounds were found in the sample inside the crucible, while rather fine intermetallic compounds were found in the sample outside the crucible. Primary intermetallic compounds were linked to each other via aluminum-rich matrix, and formed like a network. The highest iron removal fraction is 67% and the lowest one is 7% for Al-12Si-1.7Fe alloy. And they are 82% and 18% for Al-12Si-3.4Fe alloy, respectively.