Scratch Fabrication of Apparatus for Local Aluminum Recycling
Thomas Won Chois
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Summary
Currently, aluminum metal is derived from bauxite ore which is mined from locations outside North America. The mining of this ore releases toxic elements while the shipping of aluminum immensely consumes fossil fuels. The objective of my project is to create a process for converting scrap aluminum into 1mm thick sheets which is the type of material needed for practical aluminum manufacturing. It was imperative to research and follow safety procedures through this process, such as avoiding aluminum fumes and safely handling hot objects. First, it was necessary to create charcoal (from scratch) to be used as the fuel source by a furnace to melt the aluminum scrap. Once the furnace and fuel source were built, the aluminum melted into consistently sized ingots. These ingots will be flattened incrementally using heated steel rollers (fabricated for this project). The resulting sheets should be strong enough to use in a variety of applications including machinery and building construction. In a future project, I plan to develop a process for extracting aluminum from common clay removing the need for mining/shipping of bauxite and resulting in less pollution.
