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10
Electric Furnace Melting
As illustrated in previous chapters, most aluminum scrap is melted in furnaces
heated by the combustion of a fossil fuel—natural gas, oil, or perhaps coal. However,
the use of fossil fuels as an energy source has disadvantages (Butler, 2006):
• Poor fuel efciency
• Required ventilation to handle the combustion products
• Dross generation from the interaction of combustion products with the mol-
ten metal
• Melt contamination from the interaction of combustion products with the
molten metal
• High surface temperature in the metal, which encourages hydrogen
absorption
• Refractory degradation in the roof and side