TABLE OF CONTENTS Common grades of stainless steel scrap include stainless steel clips and solids containing alloying elements, nickel, chromium. These come from the manufacture of sinks, tanks, pipes, etc. Stainless steel turnings contain 16% chromium and 7% nickel.
Segregation and classification play important roles in the economics of steel production. The elements detrimental to carbon steel production, in particular, copper and tin are even more harmful in the applications of stainless steel, primarily because these alloys are used at higher temperatures and in more corrosive environments. The techniques used to sort and prepare stainless steel materials for recycling are described below.
Manual Sorting. This involves the removal of components from the scrap by hand. An example of where manual sorting and preparation are used is the removal of catalytic converters from scrap automobiles. Large items such as storage tanks and platforms must be cut to allow them to be charged into a furnace. This is done using torches, crushers, and shredders.
Magnetic Separation. This is used to separate the magnetic stainless steels and nickel! from the non-magnetic stainless steels. It is, however, not generally used to separate stainless steel from iron and steel.
Baling and Compaction. Loose scrap and thin-walled low density scrap (tanks and tubing) are normally compacted by baling or briquetting. A baler is a heavy piece of equipment that uses up to three hydraulic rams to compress the scrap. In a briquetter, small scrap is compacted into pockets as it passes...
