Patent ID: 7160501

Claim:
Method for the salt-free, non-oxidizing remelting of aluminum, the alloys thereof and aluminum scraps with possible impurities, comprising the steps of: operating a rotating drum with a combustion chamber, a servo-adjustable closing lid for controlling an overpressure within the combustion chamber with a servo attached thereto for adjusting said closing lid to control the overpressure, feeder valves for fuel and oxygen, a burner nozzle, an oxygen sensor constantly measuring oxygen in the combustion chamber, a temperature sensor measuring furnace temperature, and a pressure gauge measuring pressure within the combustion chamber, wherein natural gas or heating oil are provided as the source of energy and the oxygen is fed along with air through a feeder valve to the burner, and melting aluminum while using an electronic control device to dose an amount of air into the combustion chamber so that the amount of oxygen which is provided by the air corresponds, throughout the melting process, to the stoichiometric ratio for the complete combustion of both the fuel provided through said burner nozzle and the combustible particles of exhaust gases formed during the melting process, wherein, the electronic device uses measurement values from the oxygen sensor, the temperature sensor, and the pressure gauge to control the valves and the servo-adjustable closing lid to adjust i) the oxygen content, ii) the temperature, and iii) the overpressure to maintain said stoichiometric ratio.