Development of Aluminium smelting furnace for recycling and recovery of Aluminium from waste

Akintade, Joshua O. and Joseph, Olakunle O. and Joseph, Olufunmilayo O. (2025) Development of Aluminium smelting furnace for recycling and recovery of Aluminium from waste. Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 22 (3). 071-080. ISSN 2582-5003

The 8% of the earth’s crust is aluminium. It is the most abundant metal in the world after oxygen and silicon. It is quite useful in aircraft design, building construction, automobiles, and domestic and industrial food processing utensils and equipment. Currently, 60% of aluminium products are recyclable, and improvement on that percentage is ongoing. Refining virgin aluminium is very challenging and costs 400% higher than recycling aluminium from scrap. Used aluminium products such as pots, cans, utensils, roofing sheets, and others are wasting away. A rotary furnace was designed and fabricated for the recycling and recovery of aluminium from used aluminium pots and cans. Consequently, 1.663 kg was recovered from 2 kg of used aluminium pot at a melting point of 660.7 oC and the consumption of 0.0154 kg of LNG. Comparatively, 1.528 kilograms of aluminium was recovered from 2 kg of used cars at a melting temperature of 660.3 oC and fuel consumption of 0.0131 kg of LNG. The rotation of the furnace facilitated heat distribution and a mixture of molten aluminium in the furnace. Used cans melted faster than used aluminium pots. Recycling and recovering aluminium from used aluminium materials and scraps for sustainability can be achieved using a rotary furnace.