Industrial Services of America (ISA), a Louisville, Ky.-based scrap metal recycling company, has opened its first auto recycling facility at its main scrap processing location in Louisville. The new business, called ISA Pick.Pull.Save, is expected to help supply ISA’s auto shredder with a steady supply of auto hulks. A spokesman for ISA says that at full capacity the new company will be able to house around 1,500 vehicles on site. The auto recycling facility is the first for ISA. “It is a good opportunity for ISA to capture the scrap at an earlier part of the process,” says Bob Coleman, a spokesman for ISA.

The official grand opening of the facility is expected to be July 26.

“ISA made the decision to get into the auto parts business in order to secure scrap metal at its earliest point of entry into the market and reduce its supply chain risk,” says Brian Donaghy, ISA’s president and COO, in a news release. “The obvious benefit to this is that we are also able to provide customers with a cost-effective way to buy auto parts.”

The company says ISA Pick.Pull.Save features a streamlined, computerized inventory system that catalogs the parts on site and that it will be staffed by a group of experienced mechanics to answer customers’ questions.

TMS International Corp., Pittsburgh, has landed several mill services contracts that will bring the company more than $91 million in revenue over the length of the agreements. The contracts signed involve serving new and existing customers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Mexico, South Africa and the United States.

TMS, the parent company of Tube City IMS Corp., says the contracts entail making “aggregate growth capital investments of about $13 million.”

According to a TMS news release, the company has received a mill services contract with a new customer in Tennessee and has expanded its relationship with an existing customer in Alabama by selling a new service. The services TMS will provide to the Tennessee client, which begins in the third quarter of 2012, includes scrap and slag handling, slag sales and metal recovery. The new contract in Alabama, which is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013, expands the company’s slag processing metal recovery services currently in place, adding scrap receiving, inspection, handling and charge bucket loading.

In Monterrey and Monclova, Mexico, TMS International has augmented its services with existing customers by cross-selling additional internal transportation and logistics services for semi-finished and finished products. Similarly, in South Africa, the company has cross-sold the processing and metal reclamation of an existing large backlog of unprocessed slag. This additional service will help the customer to reclaim metal units and generate a clean “aggregate” product for various industrial applications.

In France and the UAE, the company has expanded its services to increase the volume of handling and sorting of finished plate products and melt shop services.

“We are delighted to add a significant new customer to our client base and are very pleased to expand our business with existing customers,” says Raymond Kalouche, chief operating officer and president of the Mill Services Group. “These contract wins demonstrate TMS International’s ongoing commitment to creating value for our customers in all business environments and providing excellent service. As one of the leaders in our industry, our team continues to focus on safety, the environment and developing cost-effective solutions for our customers globally.”
 

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Toxco, headquartered in California, with 14 “serious” safety and health violations at its battery recycling facility in Lancaster, Ohio. The agency has proposed penalties of $59,400.

The equipment manufacturer Dust Control Technology (DCT), based in Peoria, Ill., has designed a new system that addresses operations that generate dust in fixed locations. The system is suited for slag handling, aggregate processing, recycling operations and coal handling.

The company says that the new design completes a range of systems that deliver millions of 50-200 micron droplets per minute from above dust-generating activities.

“The tower mounts can deliver a focused mist to the areas where dust is created,” says Laura Stiverson, DCT general manager. “This allows the DustBoss units to concentrate virtually their entire output directly to the source of the problem.” The company says the new tower systems are designed to withstand wind loads of at least 100 miles per hour, and are constructed of carbon steel pipe, hot dip galvanized to resist corrosion.

Additionally, the tower units can be modified to address specific particle sizes or service environments. “In some applications such as slag handling, the dust particles can be so small that they are more effectively managed with smaller droplets,” Stiverson says. “In other situations, reduced flow may be preferred to protect moisture-sensitive materials. The most effective suppression takes place when the dust particles and droplets are roughly the same size.”

Three tower sizes are currently available. The 6-inch base tube is generally employed on tower heights less than 15 feet and is compatible with the company’s standard oscillation package. For greater elevation, an 8-inch diameter tower is recommended.

The heavy-duty design is the 10-inch diameter flange-mounted towers, which are secured directly into concrete. Available in heights up to 20 feet, the large diameter allows hoses and power cords to be routed inside the tower for protection and what the company describes as a “cleaner” appearance. The flange-mounted units feature programmable oscillation, with a customer-settable range from 0-359 degrees. Climbing rungs, work platforms, booster pumps and additive metering systems are all available as options.

Once installed, users have two options for raising and lowering the tower. The manual jack has a long handle attached, allowing operators to rotate the handle to change the height from the ground. When fitted with the optional electric jack, changes can be made via the control panel or remote control unit. With motion limits set by the program, the operator simply activates the jack until it reaches the desired position, allowing quick and easy adjustments to accommodate weather changes or specific work activities.

DCT says that the ability to network multiple machines and/or automate the on-off cycles can be a big advantage to large operations. “Automated units can be operated from a single radio-controlled, hand-held remote to conserve resources and avoid over-saturation, with the units running only during dust-generating activity,” Stiverson notes. The radio-powered remote control allows rapid start-up or adjustment of the machines by a single operator, without any manual contact.

In fully-automated systems, the network can be equipped with sensors that track wind and weather details, with customized software and programmable logic control via computer. The systems can be programmed to manage start/stop cycles based on dust monitor readings, motion sensors or weather input. The technology allows users of DustBoss equipment to automatically adjust elevation, oscillation range and other features on any number of machines to improve suppression efficiency and free up manpower for other tasks.

For more information on the new tower systems, visit DCT’s Website at www.dustboss.com, or email info@dustboss.com.