Reuse of Aluminum Dross as an Engineered Product

Abstract

To prevent the leaching of landfilled aluminum dross waste and save the energy consumed by recovering metallic aluminum from dross, aluminum dross is reused as an engineering product directly rather than ``refurbished'' ineffectively. The concept is to reduce waste and to reuse. Two kinds of aluminum dross from industrial streams were selected and characterized. We have shown that dross can be applied directly, or accompanied with a simple conditioning process, to manufacture refractory components. Dross particles below 50 mesh are most effective. Mechanical property evaluations revealed the possibility for dross waste to be utilized as filler in concrete, resulting in up to 40{\%} higher flexural strength and 10{\%} higher compressive strength compared to pure cement, as well as cement with sand additions. The potential usage of aluminum dross as a raw material for such engineering applications is presented and discussed.