Research On Safety Management Of Magnesium Production And Scrap Handling

Magnesium alloys, as a kind of structural material, have the low specific weight,high specific strength, high specific rigidity, good electromagnetism shielding property,good casting capability and easy to recycling et al. Consequently, Mg alloys have beenwidely used in auto, aviation, computing, 3C goods and hand-tooling industries.However, Mg alloy is very active chemically and is prone to oxidize and ignition duringmelting, casting and machining. In the present study, safe issues and ignition prevention during Mg production werestudied. After a critical review of fundamentals of physical chemistry properties of Mg,the oxidation and ignition mechanisms of Mg alloys were studied from the viewpoint ofoxidation thermodynamics and kinetics of Mg alloys at their processing temperatures.Then, processing techniques and operating regulations were established with theconsideration of the practical production environment. Application of the aboveestablished in safety management practices of foundry and machining factory indicatedthat the basis of the techniques and the regulations is scientific and adoptable, whichproves effective means to overcome hidden safety hazards Mg alloys casting andmachining processes. At the mean time, a new scrap treatment technique and facility is developed toreduce the ignition potential of fine Mg machining scrap by compressing them intodense bulk material. The results of trial use of the machine show that the Mg scrap canbe continuously compressed into scrap cake with significantly increased density,indicating that the facility can be commercialized as a product after optimization.