Determination of the amount of aluminum content in aluminum dross through X-ray diffraction

In all aluminum smelting process occurs oxidation of the metallic surface forming dross. The dross are mainly composed of metallic aluminum, Al ₂O₃, with minor trace of AlN and oxides. The aluminum quantification in dross is complicated, due to the small size of aluminum particles, furthermore its dispersion between oxides. This work considers a method to quantify the aluminum amount in white dross by means of XRay Diffraction, using the internal standard method. In this method a diffraction line from aluminum is compared with a line from the standard, in his case was used CaCO₃ (calcium carbonate). The calibration curve was made through a plot of the ratio of the weight fraction of aluminum and calcium carbonate as a function of the integrated intensity ratio of the line from Al and the line from the standard. The diffraction pattern of a sample was done from mixtures of dross and calcium carbonate, of well-known composition, then using a calibration curve were quantified the aluminum amount in dross.