Automated Chemical Analysis of Liquid Aluminum for Process Control

摘要

e report on automated analysis of the trace element content of liquid metal, implemented in a casthouse of a primary aluminum smelter. The automated analysis involves robotic sampling from transport crucibles followed by direct measurement of the chemical content of the liquid metal using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Experiments were carried out on-site over a period of several months, sampling over 200 crucibles and comparing the LIBS analysis with conventional laboratory spark-OES analysis of solid samples collected from the same crucibles. We discuss the predictive power of LIBS analysis for different elements, confirming that automated analysis of the molten metal can replace manual laboratory analysis for process control for many common trace elements.