SCOPE

There is a wave of emerging technologies that will be available to the aluminum industry quite soon which will greatly improve scrap, melt, and finished product processing. This course will provide a practical and theoretical understanding of these emerging technologies. First, a global understanding on how these technologies will change the aluminum industry, along with the current and projected scrap dynamics as vehicles become light weighted.

Next, specific game changing technologies will be described in detail. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is used to measure in-situ and real-time molten aluminum chemistry and inclusions, as well as scrap sorting, and is now ready for commercial deployment. Aluminum integrated minimill (AIM) is a long-term technology that will take in raw aluminum scrap at one end and produce a finished product at the other in a single step.

WHO ATTENDS?

Engineers who are responsible for operating aspects of aluminum processing plants; managers that need to understand how their process can be improved by emerging technologies; and corporate executives that need to understand the aluminum industry landscape for strategic decision making will all benefit from attending this workshop.

TOPICAL OUTLINE

• The Importance of Molten Metal Processing - Challenges and Opportunism (D. Apelian)
• What is LIBS and How Can It Be Deployed at Your Plant (R. De Saro)
• LIBS for Real Time Molten Metal Chemistry (J. Craparo)
• LIBS for Inclusion Measurement and Control (D. Apelian and K. Anderson)
• The Present and Future of Aluminum Scrap and Its Opportunies (S. Kelly)
• Aluminum Integrated Minimill to Process Scrap to a Finished Product in a Single Step (R. De Saro and D. Apelian)

INSTRUCTOR BIOS

Robert De Saro has been president of Energy Research Company (ERCo) since 1991, a company which he also founded. He has more than 40 years of experience in the industrial sector conducting plant assessments and designing and installing innovative energy savings equipment. For the past 15 years, he has developed LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) instruments to measure molten metal bulk chemistry inclusions; in-situ and in real-time. De Saro is developing an aluminum integrated minimill (AIM), funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) program, which processes scrap aluminum into a finished product in a single step. This uses ERCo’s advanced instruments and other innovative technologies. De Saro holds three patents (one for an advanced aluminum melter, one for a cullet preheater, and one for LIBS in-situ and real time measurement of melt chemistries) and has several more patents pending; has authored 45 papers in the field; and has written chapters in two books. He has participated in DOE’s Industrial Technology Programs roadmaps for Process Heating, Industrial Combustion, and Energy Loss Reduction and Recovery in Industrial Energy Systems. De Saro is a founding industrial member of the Center for Resource Recycling, and Recovery, an NSF I/UCRC center, and has chaired a number of research projects at the center. Currently, De Saro is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s committee on Process Heating System Assessments Standards. De Saro received a B.S.E in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and an S.M. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kevin Anderson is a member of The National Academy of Engineering, TMS, and a Fellow of ASM. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. Anderson was a NORCUS fellowship recipient at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, leader of aircraft materials and physical metallurgy at Reynolds Aluminum Research, and is presently a Senior Fellow for Mercury Marine. In addition to receiving several important industrial awards, Anderson holds more than 25 U.S. patents, with the vast majority successfully in production. His patents are in the areas of aluminum alloy development (registered with the Aluminum Association as 362, 367, and 368 alloys), aluminum heat treatments, cast stainless steel alloy development, neutron shielding, engine fuel system and hybrid material drive components, and biological antifouling technology, among others. He has taught aluminum metallurgy on an international level since 1999, and is presently the chair of the Advanced Casting Research Consortium at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the vice chair of the Materials Innovation Committee of TMS. On a local level, Anderson is the founding president of the Fond Du Lac STEM Academy and STEM Institute which are public charter schools to engage students in grades three through eight in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Diran Apelian is the Alcoa-Howmet Professor of Engineering and Director of the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He has been in leadership positions at both Drexel University and WPI including as department head, associate dean, and as provost (at WPI 1989–1997). The MPI is an industry-university alliance dedicated to materials processing with over 90 corporate partners. He joined WPI in 1990 as the institute’s provost. He is credited with pioneering work in various areas of materials and metals processing. During the last decade, he has worked on sustainable development issues, and particularly, resource recovery, and recycling. Apelian is the recipient of many distinguished honors and awards and has over 700 publications to his credit, 16 patents, and 15 books. He serves on several technical and corporate boards. With his colleagues and students, he has founded four companies: Materials Strategies LLC; Battery Resourcers LLC; Melt Cognition LLC; and Kinetic Batteries. Apelian served at the 2009 President of TMS, and is a Fellow of TMS, ASM International, and APMI International. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), European Academy of Sciences, and the Armenian Academy of Sciences. The 2016 prestigious Bernard Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering Education was awarded to WPI – and the four recipients were: Diran Apelian, Kris Wobbe, Art Heinricher and Rick Vaz.

Joseph Craparo is a senior engineer at Energy Research Company, where he has worked since 2001. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Clarkson University. Craparo has been involved in all aspects of the development and implementation of laser-based technologies for both military and industrial applications, with a primary focus on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Much of his work has centered on transitioning LIBS technology from the laboratory to industrial environments. Craparo has designed, built, and demonstrated an over-the-belt LIBS system for measuring the properties of coal and has installed two systems that are currently operating at a coal-fired power plant. He has also been involved in design, construction, and industrial-testing of LIBS instruments for measuring the elemental composition and cleanliness of molten aluminum, measuring the composition of glass raw materials and for sorting metal alloys. He has also worked on military projects using LIBS and other technologies for detection of explosive residues.

Sean M. Kelly received his B.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in biomedical engineering, focusing on biomaterials. He worked with Glenn Gaudette on his major qualifying project, titled Cell Seeding on Bioscaffolds. This research aimed to develop an in vitro method to graft stems cells on fibrin microthreads for patient rehabilitation after suffering a myocardial infarction. He received his M.S. in material science and engineering in February of 2016 working with Diran Apelian in the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3), a research center within the Metal Processing Institute at WPI. His research focused on automotive scrap characterization to optimize the recycling process as a function of polymeric and metallic composition. He also has worked with the Aluminum Association in an effort to determine the current recycling rate of automotive aluminum for the U.S. Kelly is now working on his doctoral dissertation with Apelian within the CR3. He is aiming to project the future material flows of new and old automotive aluminum scrap through the United States’ secondary aluminum production industry. He also plans on projecting how the increase of aluminum use in the automotive sector will alter the bulk chemical composition of auto-shred scrap mixtures. He will be considering the possible increase in the degree of aluminum component dismantling and the capabilities and efficiencies of sorting technologies utilizing x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) at the commercial level.

REGISTRATION