A Laboratory Investigation of Aluminum Filtration Through Deep-Bed and Ceramic Open-Pore Filters

Abstract

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. © 1981, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. All rights reserved.