i want to build a smelter to recycle aluminum auto parts
It requires high temperature (933K), and is inefficient for small quantities. Why not just sell it to your local recycler?
Aluminium is usually recycled in the following basic way[2]: In the case of products like aluminium drink cans, the cans are shredded and ground into small pieces. The small pieces are then melted in a furnace to produce molten aluminium (by the end of this stage the recycled aluminium is indistinguishable from virgin aluminium and so further processing is identical for both). Some minor adjustments to the actual composition of the final product is required to eliminate impurities and to conform the recycled aluminium to the proper amalgam from which different materials are manufactured, including slightly different compositions for can bodies and lids. The molten aluminium is then poured in to moulds to create large ingots. The ingots are then forced through rollers to create sheets of aluminium of whatever thickness is required for the product the metal will be used in. The scrap aluminium is separated into a range of categories i.e. irony aluminium (engine blocks etc), alloy wheels, clean aluminium Depending on the specification of the required ingot casting will depend on the type of scrap used in the start melt. Generally the scrap is charged to a reverbatory furnace (other methods appear to be either less economical and/ or dangerous)and melted down to form a bath. the molten metal is tested using spectroscopy on a sample taken from the melt to determine what refinements are needed to produce the final casts. After the refinements have been added the melt may be tested several times to be able to fine tune the batch to the specific standard Once the correct recipe of metal is available the furnace is tapped and poured into ingot moulds, usually via a casting machine. The melt is then left to cool, stacked and sold on as cast silicon aluminium ingot to various industries for re-use.
Tita, while providing an elegant answer, forgot to mention that it is mostly cut and paste from Wikipedia. I'll provide the link for her below. She also forgot to copy and paste the part about aluminum oxidizing easily when it is heated and melted. If you are trying to smelter aluminum, you will need to have a compressed or dense mass of aluminum and a smelter that is airtight. Otherwise, it will just oxidize right back into aluminum oxide, which is a white powder. You've probably seen this when you throw a beer can in the campfire? good luck and have fun in your endeavors. And always remember to cite your source!
