Optimización del proceso de fusión de aluminio a través de tecnología matemática

Objective:

At a national level, more than 300 kT/year of secondary aluminium is recovered in order to reintroduce it into the industrial sector for its various applications. It is a booming market in a context of raw material crisis. The need to reduce the ecological footprint and reduce the consumption of raw materials is imperative at a global level and an objective of RIS3 in the Basque Country. Small margins in the optimisation of their processing translate into large energy savings and waste reduction given their large volume of work. Recently they have started modelling the secondary aluminium smelting process in reverberatory furnaces with the aim of improving their performance and reducing the slag generated. The modelling includes multiple physical phenomena that are difficult to measure in a real furnace: magnetohydrodynamics, combustion, oxidation, heat exchange and mechanical agitation. Each of these cases is studied in the project for the application of aluminium smelting. The aim of the project is to improve the fluid dynamic modelling of metal melting furnaces; aluminium in particular, but with methodology applicable to alloys, steel, zinc, etc. The collaboration between BCAM and GHI Hornos Industriales creates a way to improve existing models in aluminium fluid dynamics, advancing knowledge and developing mathematical technology. The data source that will be obtained will help a fundamental long-term objective, mathematical innovation in the integration of the Basque industrial fabric. BCAM already has previous experience in the field of aluminium recycling thanks to the Elkartek project "CIRCU-AL - Circular economy of metal resources" (KK-2020/00016), in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country - UPV/EHU and Tecnalia.