Deep Filtration of Molten Aluminum using Ceramic Foam

Filters and Ceramic Particles with Active Coatings

M. ZHOU, D. SHU, K. LI, W.Y. ZHANG, H.J. NI, B.D. SUN, and J. WANG

The inclusions in molten aluminum were removed using the deep filtration of ceramic foam filters and
ceramic particles with active coatings. The results of tensile tests showed that the elongation of the
filtered tensile specimen S6 increases by 17.93 pct, but the tensile strength does not. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination showed that the secondary cracks and dimples in the filtered tensile
specimen S6 were finer and more homogeneous than those in the unfiltered tensile specimen S0. In addition, metallographic examination showed that there were only a few inclusions of approximately
6 mm in diameter in the filtered specimen S6, but more inclusions of approximately 40 mm in diameter were found in the unfiltered specimen S0. The filtration efficiency of the coated ceramic particles
was higher than that of the coated ceramic foam filters. The active coating could effectively capture
the inclusions and dissolve Al2O3 in them during filtration.
I. INTRODUCTION

MOLTEN aluminum is so active that it can easily chemically react with O2 and H2O to form Al2O3 inclusions and
H during melting practice. However, some other inclusions,
such as TiB2, Al4C3, MgAl2O4, etc., form by the electrolytic
process. Under turbulent flow conditions, the inclusions are
distributed unevenly in the molten aluminum. They may
associate with cracks or be the locations of crack initiation
in solidified casting. Aluminum products containing these
inclusions will probably exhibit poor ductility or toughness.
Therefore, the purification of the molten aluminum is one
of the most important processes for improving the quality
of aluminum products.[1,2]
The inclusions of 30 mm in diameter are hardly removed
from the molten aluminum using glass fibrous webs or foam
ceramic filters. Fu et al.[37] purified industrial, commercial
pure aluminum using a mixture of KCl-NaCl and small
quantities of fluoride, carbonate, sulfate, and a fusing agent.
During casting, this mixture forms a layer of molten flux.
When the melted aluminum droplets pass through this
molten flux layer, the inclusions on the surface of the large
aluminum droplets can be removed, but the inclusions inside the large aluminum droplets may not be in contact with
the molten fluxes. Besides, a thin film of liquid aluminum on
the surface of the inclusions hinders chemical reaction
between the inclusions and the molten fluxes, as is confirmed
by the chemical-reaction kinetics, which predicts a low
efficiency of inclusion removal in this case.
For the deep filtration, the inclusions are hardly removed
from the molten aluminum by using uncoated ceramic
particles of large sizes, and uncoated fine ceramic particles
are easily washed away by molten aluminum and may form
new inclusions. However, the cake mode is the mechanism
of capturing the inclusions by micropores of the ceramic
M. ZHOU, D. SHU, K. LI, W.Y. ZHANG, H.J. NI, B.D. SUN, and
J. WANG are with the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200030, Peoples Republic of China. Contact email: jdzhm@sina.com or jdzhm@sohu.com
Manuscript submitted August 6, 2002.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

tube, but capillary force induced by the nonwettability

between micropores of the ceramic tube and the molten
aluminum can hinder the molten aluminum from entering
the micropores.[8,9,10]
However, the inclusions in the molten aluminum are
required to be as low as possible in some industries, such
as the packaging industry, which uses aluminum foil; the
high-speed extrusion molding industry, which makes aluminum pressure pots; and the electronic, aviation, building,
and automotive industries. Hence, the existing purification
technologies to remove the inclusions must be improved
to meet the industrial requirements.
The objective of this study is to investigate the deep
filtration of molten aluminum using ceramic foam filters
and ceramic particles with active coatings, which can
capture nonmetallic inclusions and dissolve Al2O3.
II. EXPERIMENT
Industrial, commerical pure aluminum ingots (99.65 pct
pure) of 1.5 kg in weight were melted at 710 C in a graphite
crucible that was put in a 12 kW electric furnace. Table I
shows the batch formula of the active enamel coating X1,
which contains boron (borophosphate) and provides good
corrosion resistance to the molten aluminum, and the boronfree enamel X2. At 700 C, each formulated powder mixture
was melted in a graphite crucible for about 3 hours and then
poured on a large aluminum plate to make solid blocky
enamel. The blocky enamels were pulverized with a ball
mill to make enamel powder (average 50 mm in diameter)
and were added to stirred water to make a liquid suspension.
The liquid suspension was sprayed on the ceramic foam
filters and ceramic particles, which were put on a thin steel
plate and roasted in a 1 kW electric furnace to form a
continuous coating.
For the experiment on the enamel corrosion resistance to
the molten aluminum, powders of borophosphate and boronfree enamels packed in aluminum foils were put into the
molten aluminum in a small graphite crucible. The experimental parameters are listed in Table II. After being corroVOLUME 34A, MAY 20031183

Table I. Composition of the Enamels (Weight Percent)

Specimen

(NH4)2
HPO4

Na2B4O7
10H2O

Na3A1F6

CaCO3

Li2CO3

K2CO3

Na2CO3

Mg2(OH)2CO3

H3BO3

40
60

2
0

11
20

2
2

2
2

3
3

5
9

1
1

34
0

X1
X2

Table II. The Process of Borophosphate and Boron-Free

Enamels Dipped into Molten Aluminum
Enamels
Enamel
Molten
Molten
Dipped Molten
Specimen Sample Enamel/C Aluminum/C Aluminum/h
S1
S2

X1
X2

700
700

710
710

5
5

sion tested, samples were cut into small blocks (15 10

5 mm), polished, and cleaned to make the interface between
the enamels and aluminum distinct. The interface regions
were investigated using an EDAX-S-52 (scanning electron
microscope (SEM), and the compositions of the coating and
the matrix material at different locations were examined with
an electron probe. The processes to coat ceramic foam filters
and ceramic particles are listed in Tables III and IV.
Figure 1 shows the setup for the deep-filtration test using
the ceramic filters with the active coating, and Figure 2
shows the setup for the deep-filtration test using the ceramic
powder with the active coating. The coated ceramic foam
filters supported with firebricks were vertically piled up in
a graphite crucible (Figure 1), and the quantities of the coated
ceramic foam filters were six pieces of 40 ppi or eight pieces
of 30 ppi. The coated ceramic particles were put into a dense
ceramic tube (i.d. of 30 mm, o.d. of 50 mm, and length of
900 mm) which was about 200-mm thick, whose bottom
was blocked up using foam ceramic filters. The dense ceramic
tube filled with the coated ceramic particles was vertically
put into a graphite crucible (Figure 2). Figure 3 shows the
photographs of the blocky enamel and powder enamel. The
photograph in Figure 4 shows the used ceramic foam filters
with the active enamel coating.
The filtered molten aluminum was poured into a die preheated at 220 C. The as-cast tensile specimens ( 11.25
100 mm) were tested with a hydraulic universal material testing machine (WE-300A). The fracture of the tensile-tested
specimens was observed with an EDAX-S-520 SEM. The
impurity elements in the tested specimens were examined on
the sectioned surface of the tensile-tested specimens using
inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (IRIS1000). The shape and size of the inclusions in the metallographic specimen (sectioned from the specimens) were
observed with a microscope (Olympus PME3).
III. RESULTS
Figure 5 shows the photograph of the filtration-tested
ceramic particles with an active coating, filled in the dense
ceramic tube. Figure 6 shows an SEM photograph of the
interface between the borophosphate enamel layer and the
ceramic foam filter region. Locations 1, 2, and 4 are located
on the side of the enamel, and location 3 is in the ceramic
1184VOLUME 34A, MAY 2003

Fig. 1Equipment of molten aluminum filtered with coated ceramic foam

filters.

Fig. 2Equipment of molten aluminum filtered with coated ceramic

particles.

matrix. The compositions of the four locations are listed in

Table V.
Figure 7 shows an SEM backscattered electron image
(BEI) of the interface between the corrosion-resistantcoating sample, S 1 , and the industrial pure aluminum
region. In the SEM BEI photograph, the gray and white
spots dispersed in the black areas indicate the industrial
pure aluminum and the borophosphate enamels, respectively. Locations 1 through 3 are located on the side of
the industrially pure aluminum, where the elements of
borophosphate enamels were not detected. Location 4 is
in the borophosphate enamels, and the compositions of
locations 1 through 4, marked in the SEM BEI photograph,
are listed in Table VI.
The white and gray areas in the SEM photograph of
Figure 8 denote boron-free enamels and industrial pure
aluminum, respectively. Locations 3, 4, 6, and 7 are located
on the side of the industrial pure aluminum near the
interface, where the element P was detected. Locations
1, 2, and 5 are located in enamels, and location 2 in the
industrial pure aluminum is close to the interface. The
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

Table III. The Process of Suspension Enamel Coated on the Surface of Ceramic Foam Filters
Specimen
S3
S4

Filter Size (cm)

Filter Quantities

Powder Enamel/g

Water Volume/mL

30 ppi (8.2 4.1 1.7)

40 ppi (10 5 5)

1
1

16
32

250
500

Table IV. Process of the Enamel Coated on the Surface

of Ceramic Particles
Ceramic
Particles
(mm)
S5
S6

Ceramic
Particle
(Wt/g)

Powder
Enamel
(Wt/g)

Water/mL

Particle
Diameter

240
240

22
20

260
260

1.2 mm
0.7 mm

Fig. 5Optical photograph of used ceramic particles with active coating

in the dense ceramic tube.

Fig. 3Optical photograph of blocky and powder enamels.

Fig. 6SEM BEI photograph of used ceramic foam filter S2 with active
enamel coating.

Fig. 4Optical photograph of ceramic foam filters.

difference in the content of the element P between locations

5 and 1 is due to the inhomogeneity of the element
distribution. In addition, the compositions of seven locations marked on the SEM photograph of specimen S2 are
listed in Table VII. The results of the corrosion tests for
the enamels are similar to the experimental results in
Reference 12.
The SEM BEI photograph in Figure 9 shows the fracture
of the tensile-tested unfiltered specimen S0. Its secondary
cracks and dimples are quite inhomogeneous and large. The
SEM photographs in Figures 10 through 12 show the fracMETALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

ture of the tensile-tested filtered specimens S4 through S6,

respectively, and their secondary cracks and dimples are
finer and more homogeneous. The cracks and dimples of the
filtered tensile-tested specimen S6 are finer and more homogeneous than those of the filtered tensile-tested specimens
S4 and S5. On the other hand, the cracks and dimples of
tensile-tested specimen S7, filtered with 40 ppi uncoated
ceramic foam filters, are the same as those of the tensiletested unfiltered specimen S0.
According to the data in Table VIII, the tensile strength
and elongation of the original unfiltered specimen S0 are
71.46 MPa and 43 pct, respectively. For the tensile-tested
filtered specimens S4 through S6, their elongations increase
by 13.70 and 17.93 pct, respectively, but their tensile strengths
show no meaningful change. In addition, the tensile-tested
specimen S7 was filtered using six pieces of uncoated ceramic
foam filters, and its tensile strength and elongation are the
same as that of the original unfiltered specimen S0.
VOLUME 34A, MAY 20031185

Table V. SEM Interface and Energy Spectrum of Used Ceramic Foam Filters with Active Coating
Content (Wt Pct)
Locations

Si

Na

Al

Ca

Mg

1
2
3
4

5.49
0
31.15
11.31

11.21
11.99
4.90
0

13.15
43.02
53.95
32.54

21.03
39.50
0
44.39

14.31
5.12
0
6.91

30.49
0
5.21
3.79

4.32
0.37
4.79
1.06

Table VII. Solidified Interface Components between

Aluminum and Specimen S2
Content (Wt Pct)
Location

Na

Al

Ca

Mg

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

3.58
5.53
0.94
0.07
4.38
1.24
0.46

52.51
69.63
98.33
98.75
77.66
97.11
99.19

11.93
10.89
0.28
0.38
12.72
0.36
0.15

9.86
7.70
0.00
0.00
4.13
0.11
0.00

7.38
3.22
0.39
0.03
1.10
1.04
0.19

14.74
3.02
0.07
0.14
0.00
0.15
0.00

Fig. 7SEM BEI photograph of interface between solidified sample S1

and aluminum.

Table VI. Solidified Interface Components between

Aluminum and Specimen S1
Content (Wt Pct)
Location

Na

Al

Ca

Mg

1
2
3
4

0
0
0
8.29

100
100
100
42.82

0
0
0
27.60

0
0
0
16.22

0
0
0
3.30

0
0
0
1.06
Fig. 9SEM photograph of unfiltered tensile sample S0.

Fig. 8SEM BEI photograph of interface between solidified sample S2

and aluminum.

Fig. 10SEM photograph of filtered tensile sample S4.

The trace impurity contents of the unfiltered and filtered

specimens (Table IX) show that the trace impurity contents
of the filtered sample S6 also do not increase, so that the active
enamel coating is not dissolved by the molten aluminum.
Figures 4 through 6 and the data in Table V suggest that the

active coating was adhered to the surface of the ceramic filters

and was not consumed by the molten aluminum.
Figures 13, 15, 17, and 19 show the low-magnification
metallographs of tested specimens S0 and S4 through S6
respectively. Figures 14, 16, 18, and 20 show the high-

1186VOLUME 34A, MAY 2003

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

Fig. 11SEM photograph of filtered tensile sample S5.

Fig. 12SEM photograph of filtered tensile sample S6.

Table VIII. Tensile Strength and Elongation of Tensile Specimen (Average)

Specimen Serial Number
Tensile strength (MPa)
Elongation Pct
Elongation increase pct

S0

S3

S4

S5

S6

S7

71.46
43.00

71.46
47.12
9.58

71.48
48.53
12.86

71.44
48.90
13.70

71.38
50.71
17.93

71.46
44.12

Table IX. Impurity Elements of Unfiltered and Filtered Tensile Specimen Examined with ICP-AES
Content of Impurity Elements (Pct)
Specimen
S0
S6

Pb

Ca

Cr

Fe

Mg

Na

Si

0.0008
0.0009

0.0412
0.0400

0.028
0.030

0.0051
0.0050

0.0034
0.0036

0.0890
0.0884

0.0027
0.0029

0.0032
0.0034

0.0454
0.0450

Fig. 13Low-magnification metallograph of unfiltered sample S0.

Fig. 14High-magnification metallograph of unfiltered sample S0.

magnification metallographs of tested specimens S0 and

S4 through S6. The metallographs show that the inclusions
in the filtered samples are less than those in the unfiltered
sample S0. Many inclusions of approximately 40 mm in
diameter are observed in the unfiltered sample S0, as shown
in Figure 17. The sizes of a few inclusions are larger
than 10 mm for the filtered samples S4 and S5, as shown
in Figures 18 and 19, but there are only several inclusions
of approximately 6 mm in diameter in the filtered sample
S2, as shown in Figure 20. In addition, metallographic
examination shows that the quantities and sizes of the
inclusions in specimen S7, filtered with 40 ppi uncoated

ceramic foam filters, are the same as those of unfiltered

specimen S0.

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

IV. DISCUSSION
A. Corrosion Properties
M. Zhou et al.[12] examined the corrosion resistance of an
enamel coating with a high B2O3-P2O5 content to molten
aluminum. B2O3 and P2O5 form a kind of BPO4[13,14,15]
network structure, and the conversion of the boron crystalline structure from trigonal to tetrahedral can increase the
VOLUME 34A, MAY 20031187

Fig. 15Low-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S4.

Fig. 18High-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S5.

Fig. 16High-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S4.

Fig. 19Low-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S6.

Fig. 17Low-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S5.

Fig. 20High-magnification metallograph of filtered sample S5.

density of the enamels. The P-B network in the enamels with

high B2O3 and P2O5 contents is connected by bridge oxygen. The experimental results of Reference 12 show that
Al2O3 dissolved in molten borophosphate enamel can be
converted into AlO4 of a tetrahedral structure. BO3 (or BO4),
PO4, and AlO4 are connected by an apex-angle oxygen
(bridge oxygen) to form a tetrahedron structure in a threedimensional space. Alkali metals and alkaline-earth metals
are filled in the interstitial site of network bonds with nonbridge oxygen through electrostatic interaction. Therefore,

borophosphate enamels can resist the corrosion of the molten

aluminum, but the boron-free phosphate enamels without
the dense network of B2O3-P2O5 cannot. However, the results
of the corrosion tests for the borophosphate enamel S1 are
consistent with the results reported in Reference 12.

1188VOLUME 34A, MAY 2003

B. Thermodynamic Theory
The molten enamels exhibit slight spreadability on the
surface of molten aluminum because the enamel is a kind
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

of noncrystalline solid,[11] which can improve the wettability between ceramic particles and molten aluminum to
some extent. Moreover, the molten enamels can spread
on the surface of ceramic filters.
As a result, the inclusions tend to move out from the
molten aluminum into the molten enamel. Thermodynamic
expressions of inclusion removal with the molten enamel
are as follows:[1621]
G gIE gME gIM

[1]

gIG gEG cos uIS gIE, gIG gMG cos uIM gIM [2]
G gEG cos uIE gMG cos uMI gME

[3]

where G is the Gibbs free energy of the inclusion molten

aluminum molten enamel ternary system; gME is the surface tension between the molten aluminum and the molten
enamel; gIE is the surface tension between the inclusion
and the molten enamel; gIM is the surface tension between
the inclusion and the molten aluminum; uMI is the wetting
angle between the molten aluminum and the inclusion
(90 deg[22]); uIE is the wetting angle between the molten
enamel and the inclusion (90 deg[23]); gIG is the surface
tension between the inclusion and the gas; gEG is the surface tension between the molten enamel and the gas: and
gMG is the surface tension between the molten aluminum
and the gas.
Thermodynamic conditions for inclusion removal (G
0) are satisfied in formula [3], because uMI 90 deg [22] or
cos uMI 0. It is seen that the larger gME is, the smaller
G becomes, and the inclusions are removed more easily
by the molten enamels.
Furthermore, the finer ceramic particles, with a good viscous coating that holds the finer ceramic particles together,
are not washed away by the molten aluminum during filtration; at the same time, the inclusions in molten aluminum
are captured by the highly viscous coating.
C. Kinetics of Inclusions Captured by Active
Enamel Coating
1. The macroscopic equation
For a suspension flowing through a deep-bed filter, the
macroscopic equation in References 24 through 26 is readily shown to be
a
Vsf lc
t

[4]

where l is the filter coefficient (m1), t is the time of filtration (seconds), c is the concentration of inclusions in the
liquid phase (volume fraction pct), Vsf is the superficial
velocity (m/s), and a is the specific deposit (the inclusions
captured by the active coating, in volume fraction pct).
From Eq. [4], it can be seen that the specific deposit also
increases when the superficial velocity of the molten aluminum increases. At the same superficial velocity of the
molten aluminum, the distance of the inclusions transferring
from the inside to the surface in fine molten aluminum
streams is shorter than that for large molten aluminum
streams. Figure 21 show random movement and distribution
of the inclusions in molten streams. The probability of
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

inclusions being on the surface of the fine molten aluminum

stream is larger than that for a large molten aluminum stream.
When the superficial velocity increases, the inclusions move
to the surface from the inside of fine molten aluminum
streams more easily than from the inside of large molten
aluminum streams. Therefore, the inclusions are more easily
captured by the viscous coating on the surface of ceramic
filters.
2. Effect of captured particles on pressure drop
The pressure drop across the filter as a function of time
and filter thickness during the aging period can be obtained
by integrating the pressure gradient from the inlet to outlet
of the filter.
It has been shown that the initial pressure gradient established during the time the flow of water passes through
reticulate ceramic filters can be estimated from Darcys law,
with a permeability calculated by the CarmanKozeny equation. If one assumes that during the aging period, Darcys
law and the CarmanKozeny equation still hold, then, for
the situation where the flow rate is maintained constant, p(t)
may be calculated by the following equation:[26,27,28]
p(t) a1

3
a
a
b a1
b [5]
(1 0)(1 a)
0 (1 a)

where p denotes the pressure (Pascals); 0 and a are,

respectively, the effective porosity of the clean coated filter
and the porosity of the agglomerates of the particles captured inside the coated filter (a factor of the porosity pct);
and a is the volume fraction percent of the inclusions captured by the active coating.
When the inclusions are captured by the active coating
on the surface of ceramic filters, the pore diameters of the
ceramic filters with the active coating decrease. Accordingly,
molten aluminum disperses into fine molten aluminum
streams. From Eq [5], one finds that p(t) is related to the
specific deposit. With the increase of the specific deposit,
P(t) increases. Moreover, the superficial velocity of the
molten aluminum also increases along with the increase of
filtration pressure; the inclusions easily move to the surface
from the inside of fine molten aluminum streams and are
captured by the active coating on the surface of the ceramic
filters.
D. Analysis of Experimental Results
Figure 22 through 25 present the models for the capturing of inclusions using ceramic foam filters and ceramic
particles with the active coating. The molten aluminum,
which disperses into fine molten streams during filtration,
flows into fine pores of the coated ceramic foam filters or

Fig. 21Sectional drawing of inclusion distribution at random in aluminum

streams: (a) large aluminum streams and (b) fine aluminum streams.
VOLUME 34A, MAY 20031189

the mesopore of ceramic particles by its own weight to overcome the capillary force induced by the nonwettability
between the micropore ceramic tube and the molten aluminum. At the same time, contact areas between the molten
aluminum and the coated ceramic filters increase. The
inclusions in the fine molten streams move to the surface
of the fine molten streams more easily, which can be
captured by the active coating on the surface of ceramic
filter pores. Although the remaining air in the ceramic foam
filters can oxidize some molten aluminum at the beginning,

Fig. 22Active coating on the surface of ceramic foam filter capturing

inclusions.

Fig. 23Enlarged interface of viscous enamel capturing inclusion.

the oxidized aluminum can be captured and dissolved by

the active coating.
The ceramic tube filled with coated ceramic particles is
vertically placed into a graphite crucible. Under a pressurized condition, the filtered molten aluminum rises from
the graphite crucible bottom and is protected from contact
with air by the alumina film on the surface. With the decrease of the ceramic particle sizes, the mesopore diameters of ceramic particles are reduced, and the contact areas
between the molten aluminum and the coated ceramic particles increase. On the other hand, the very small mesopores between the ceramic particles and the fine pores in
the ceramic foam filters may impede the molten aluminum
from flowing into finer pores due to the high surface tension. Therefore, it is important to select the proper pore
size of the ceramic foam filter, diameters of the ceramic
particles, and coating thickness for filtration of the molten
aluminum.
Experiments show that the elongation of the filtered tensile
samples increases, but their tensile strength does not. This
is because many inclusions, such as Al2O3, are associated
with cracks or provide favorite locations for crack initiation in aluminum products. Although the quantity of the
inclusions is low in the molten aluminum, the deep filtration of ceramic filters with an active coating can better
remove the inclusions from the molten aluminum, to decrease
cracks and the locations of crack initiation in aluminum
products. Therefore, the removal of inclusions from the
molten aluminum notably favors the elongation increase of
the filtered tensile specimens.[29]
If the tensile specimens have many inclusions in them,
the brittle fracture is produced easily during the tensiletesting process. However, the removal of inclusions favors
the ductile fracture being produced.[30] Metallograph figures
show that the quantities and sizes of the inclusions in the
filtered tensile specimens are obviously less and smaller
than those in the unfiltered tensile specimen S0.
V. CONCLUSIONS

Fig. 24Inclusion in molten aluminum captured by active coating on the

ceramic particles.

Fig. 25Enlarged interface of active enamel capturing inclusions.

1190VOLUME 34A, MAY 2003

1. The active enamel coating, with good corrosion resistance to the molten aluminum, adheres on the surface of
ceramic filters and is not consumed by the molten
aluminum.
2. The SEM examination indicates that the secondary cracks
and dimples are fine and homogeneous in the filtered
tensile specimen, but large and inhomogeneous in the
unfiltered tensile specimen.
3. The elongation of the filtered tensile specimens increases,
but their tensile strength does not show meaningful
change.
4. The contents of trace impurity elements in the filtered
specimen S6 show no obvious change compared with the
unfiltered specimen S0.
5. The inclusions can be removed by a simple and inexpensive deep filtration using the ceramic foam filters and
ceramic particles with an active coating. The filtered
material of specimen S6 shows better properties and very
few inclusions of 6 mm in diameter.
6. The efficiency of removing inclusions from molten
aluminum is very low for uncoated ceramic foam filters.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS A

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the National Key Fundamental
Research Project (973) (Project No. G1999064900).
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