Summary
A mathematical model which describes filtration of liquid aluminum is proposed and experimentally verified. Deep-bed filters consisting of tabular Al2O3 particles (where the bed height and Al2O3 particle size was varied) and ceramic open-pore (Selee) filters were used to remove TiB2 “synthetic inclusions” from the melt. Inclusion capture kinetics for these two types of filters have been evaluated and quantified in terms of a kinetic parameter Ko. The results show that during filtration the open-pore ceramic filter behaves similar to a deep bed filter; however, as filtration proceeds, a cake filtration mode becomes prevalent. In both types of filters, filtration efficiency is shown to be strongly dependent on the melt approach velocity.
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Editor’s Note: This paper is taken essentially in its entirety from Light Metals 1981, edited by Gordon M. Bell, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, Warrendale, Pennsylvania 15086, pp. 735–750. Copyright 1980.
R. Mutharasan is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Drexel University. He received his PhD in chemical engineering from Drexel University in 1973. His research interests include mathematical modeling of chemical and metallurgical processes, process systems analysis and control , and processes for production of fuel-value chemicals from renewable resources. He has over 25 publications in these research areas.
Diran Apellan is associate professor, Department of Materials Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was awarded a ScD in materials science and engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. His research interests are materials processing, solidification processing, and mathematical modeling. He currently directs the solidification processing research at Drexel.
Chris Romanowski is a research associate in the Solidification Processing Group, Department of Materials Engineering, Drexel University. He received his PhD in Metallurgy from the University of Surrey, England. He coordinates the Research Group’s Molten Metal Filtration studies on aluminum, steel, and superalloys. His research interests are in the optimization and development of industrial melt filtration processes.
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Mutharasan, R., Apelian, D. & Romanowski, C. A Laboratory Investigation of Aluminum Filtration Through Deep-Bed and Ceramic Open-Pore Filters. JOM 33, 12–18 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339549
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03339549