Highlights
Task:
Aluminium is a highly recycled metal because it is widely used in many bulk applications (food and drink containers, cladding, etc) and, therefore, is relatively easy to collect; it is valuable (relative to many other common metals); and it is relatively easy to reprocess. Metals are recycled by remelting and casting into ingots for further processing into engineering materials. Pure aluminium has a melting point of 660?C which is much lower than, for example, the melting point of iron (1540?C) making it relatively easy to melt in industrial furnaces. Remelting furnaces used in industry may be heated by burning a fuel (oil or gas) or electrically heated (resistance heating or induction heating). Batch-type electrical (resistance) and a fuel-fired furnace are illustrated below. A typical temperature for recycling aluminium is 1100 K (i.e., 827 ?C). This is well above the melting point and gives sufficient 'superheat' so the metal won't start freezing while it is being poured (tapped) from the furnace. This assignment is about calculating the energy required to recycle aluminium. It is based on the principle of the heat balance (energy input must equal the energy output). For heat-related calculations, the thermodynamic property required is Enthalpy, H. Enthalpy is a measure of an energy of a system. The unit of enthalpy is J/mol or kJ/mol. A system is any part of the Universe under consideration. It may be a kilogram of aluminium, a mixture of gases, a particular chemical reaction, a furnace, etc. The difference in enthalpy between two states of a system is the energy required to transform the system from one state to the other. If the process occurs at constant pressure, as in a melting furnace, the enthalpy change is equal to the heat absorbed or evolved during the transformation. For practical purposes, a basis of 1 kg (or 1 tonne) of aluminium is used although the calculations must be performed in terms of moles of aluminium (then converted to kg). This is because thermodynamic data are expressed in terms of 'per mol'. Similarly, for practical purposes, temperature is expressed in Celcius (?C) but thermodynamic data are expressed in Kelvin (K) and all thermodynamic calculations involving temperature must be performed in Kelvin. To convert Celcius temperature to Kelvin temperature ADD 273.15 to the Celcius temperature. 2 The appended tables are typical compilations of thermodynamic data for pure substances. These tables contain all the data you will need for the Assignment but not all the data are needed. Part of the exercise is to determine what data to use.
1. Assuming the scrap aluminium is at 25?C, calculate the energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kg to 900 K. (2 marks)
2. Assuming the scrap aluminium is at 25?C, calculate the energy required to just melt 1 kg of aluminium. Why are there two thermodynamic values listed at the melting point and what is the significance of their difference? (2 + 2 marks)
3. Again, assuming the scrap aluminium is at 25?C, calculate the energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of scrap to 1100 K. (2 marks)
4. If the heat in Case (3) is to be supplied electrically, by resistance heating or induction heating, calculate the quantity of electrical energy (in kW h) required per kg of scrap. (2 marks)
5. If the aluminium is placed in the furnace initially at a temperature of 500 K rather than 298.15 K, how much energy is required per kilogram in this case to heat it to 1100 K? Explain why this value is less than the value for Case (3). (2 marks)
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