Technological Properties of Briquets Made of Chips of Aluminum and Its Alloys

To determine the feasibility of partially replacing secondary aluminum in pig form by briquets for the deoxidation of steel, we subjected steel to out-of-furnace in a laboratory to study the briquets' processing properties. Each briquet of chips was a dense body of regular cylindrical form with a slight conicity and an even, smooth surface. The edges of the as-received briquets were intact and largely of the same shape as when they were made. It was determined that the mechanical strength of the briquets is relatively high: when the briquet was dropped from a height of 1 m, the edges did not fracture and were chipped only slightly. The overall shape of the briquet remained unchanged. The briquets had an average diameter of 196.6 mm, an average height of 77.8 mm, a volume of 2361.8 cm3, a mass of 5375 g, a bulk density of 2.28 g/cm3, and a total porosity of 14.9%.