Directional separation of nonmetallic inclusions from copper melt reinforced by supergravity

Abstract

An emerging method of supergravity fields was introduced to separate nonmetallic inclusions from liquid copper. The copper melt containing oxide inclusions was treated via solidification at a certain cooling rate under different gravity fields, and the separation effect and moving behavior of inclusion particles were investigated systematically. The results show that the occurrence of oxide inclusions floating toward the top of the sample rapidly was intensified by the supergravity field, and some oxide inclusions can be absorbed in the covering slag. The oxygen content in the melt is significantly reduced after treatment with supergravity, and the separation effect can be greatly improved by increasing the gravity coefficient G. The separation efficiency of inclusions is only 38.43% under a normal gravity field (G = 1), whereas the separation efficiency can reach 90.11% after treatment in a supergravity field of G = 308. Moreover, the separating velocity of particles obtained by theoretical calculations increases greatly with an increasing gravity coefficient. The particle moving velocity in the direction of supergravity agrees well with Stokes velocity calculated via Stokes’ law.