Optimal Aluminum Purity in Supporting the Closed-Loop System
"Leveraging X-ray Transmission Magic for Aluminum Recycling Gold!"
The world is buzzing with companies seeking ways to save resources and boost the use of secondary raw materials. This barnstorming approach can lead to astonishingly lower carbon footprints and a beefed-up supply chain security.
STEINERT has been a trusty ally for metal recycling titans for quite some time now. Its killer tech, the dry density separation, has rocked the metal processing world for years. The equipment, informed by x-ray transmission, excels in separating heavy and light metals. The STEINERT XSS T, their top-tier gadget, churns out mind-blowing aluminium purity, reaching a whopping 99.8%.
Following the release of the latest version, EVO 5.0, in 2021, advancements have been enormous. Key additions include automated x-ray monitoring and x-ray sensor calibration to maintain top-notch detection and sorting quality, with absolutely no fluctuations.
In addition to heavy/light metal separation, wrought and cast aluminium separating is another vital application. This is crucial for marketing the secondary raw material.
The enrichment of solid magnesium is crucial in the quality of secondary aluminium. With EVO 5.0's multilayer data evaluation, the system provides more distinguishing criteria for challenging sorting tasks—like detecting magnesium.
By separating free magnesium, the recycled aluminium produced can be used in a variety of ways in smelting furnaces.
Success stories abound, showing the might of the STEINERT XSS T EVO 5.0 in action. For instance, "Sifting Gold from Incinerator Residues"
Scanning the metal recycling scene of Europe, the Scanmetals group of companies shine. Their three sites, heaping with waste incineration plant flotsam, turn this garbage into bustling markets for non-ferrous metals. The cleaned and separated metal fractions are sold across the globe to primary and secondary smelters, refineries, foundries, and mills.
This Danish treasure trove relies on STEINERT for all its non-ferrous metal sorting solutions. The chief executive, Ejvind Pedersen, sings STEINERT's praises, championing the centralized procurement system for saving time and allowing him to concentrate on innovative recycling ideas. Pedersen even compares the efficiency and dependability of STEINERT with that of prized German automotive manufacturers. He stresses the confidence his crew has in the hardware and how simple the technical components are to operate.
Sifting gold daily, with four truckloads of pure aluminium, the team saves a staggering 90% on CO emissions. Pedersen champions the production of high-grade aluminium. The process begins with the non-ferrous metal separator for recovering Zorba from the ash. The next stage is sorting out stainless steel using an induction sorting system, all made possible by x-ray transmission. The STEINERT XSS T EVO 5.0 then takes over, producing ultra-pure aluminium by sorting out heavy metals, ensuring material that's highly sought after on the market.
It's not just about the price.
The Stena Recycling conglomerate sprawls across Europe with a network of 178 recycling plants, employing over 3500 people. Every year, Stena recycles over 6 million tons of complex waste materials, stamping out 870,000 tons of emissions from the environment.
Jesper Fournaise, the Outbound Sales Manager at Stena Recycling S/A, is in charge of aluminium production and sales. "We're the green gods," he declares, affirming that scrap is turned into recyclable material that's looped back into production. When asked about the most significant changes over the last few years, he replies: "We used to ship our scrap to the Far East, where it was sorted by hand, and we didn't know what happened to the material. The advancements in technological sorting represent one of the greatest differences. Now, here in our own country, we're able to use x-ray technology to meet maximum quality standards and to put the metal back into commercial use."
For long, it's not just been about the sales price of a metal: "Our customers, the smelters, save CO by using secondary raw materials and sorting is one of the most important primary stages. Because we strive for qualities similar to those of primary aluminium, we opted for sorting technology from Steinert."
High-level dependability and availability
Stemin S.p.A., a titan in aluminium recycling, nestled near Bergamo, Italy, has opted to use STEINERT sorting technology. They shine especially for dry density separation through x-ray transmission (XRT) to ensure the maximum purity of their aluminium output. Every year, Stemin produces up to 70,000 tons of high-quality secondary aluminium. The sorted aluminium is readied for the furnace and handed over to the company's own foundry for further processing.
Board member Olivo Foglieni has been using STEINERT equipment for years and was one of the first to deploy the 5.0 STEINERT XSS T. He lavishes praise on the technology and team: "I don't need to explain how crucial absolute reliability of the x-ray unit and sorting quality is for us. Both are indispensable to ensuring a smooth process between sorting and further use of the aluminium product. Downtimes jeopardize the entire supply chain. But our long-standing experience with Steinert proves that this is something we don't need to worry about."
Stemin has replaced a total of four machines from competitors with STEINERT x-ray sorting technology in recent years. "Compared with the others, the biggest difference is their reliability. We have opted for Steinert because of their ongoing research and development in the field of metal recycling, the fact that the quality of their sorting is improving all the time and because their more capable sorting systems help us to produce the quality levels we need. Each type of scrap that we work with has its own requirements and it is important for us to separate by input material, magnesium or heavy metals like copper. This is the challenge we face - and always with the goal of increasing the value of the metal," adds Foglieni.
LIBS for even greater purity
As an extra stage, some STEINERT's users leverage LIBS sorting. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) can analyze aluminium content and components like copper, magnesium or silicon, which define the type of aluminium alloy. This real-time process allows various alloys to be classified effectively, enabling the product to be used directly in producing industries. Recovery of targeted alloy compositions reduces downcycling.
STEINERT LIBS sorting systems have been widely distributed on the market, and more will be deployed in 2023. Pioneers in sorting aluminium alloys, AMAG Austria Metall AG, have been using one such system to sort into various aluminium alloy qualities since 2019. AMAG produces superior primary, cast, and rolled products from aluminium.
The clamor for recycled aluminium is deafening. Separating into alloys is both a wide-open opportunity and a hairy challenge. By producing pure aluminium alloy qualities from recycled aluminium, the specific reuse can be significantly improved. This is the road to closed material recycling.
AMAG has opted for LIBS technology from Steinert for this very purpose. An STEINERT LSS line sorting system cranks out up to 6 products in a single cycle.
The manufacturing industry, driven by sustainability and resource conservation, is increasingly leveraging advanced technologies like STEINERT's equipment for metal recycling, such as the XSS T EVO 5.0. This technological advancement in the finance sector, enabled by x-ray transmission, allows for light and heavy metal separation, ultimately contributing to the development of higher-quality secondary raw materials in industries like aluminum recycling.
The adoption of technology in the recycling industry, as demonstrated by Scanmetals and Stena Recycling, has resulted in significant CO2 emissions reductions while maximizing the value of recycled metals, including aluminum. This shift in the finance landscape, driven by the integration of technology, is transforming the metal recycling sector, making it comparable to the efficiency and dependability of prized German automotive manufacturers.
