Eriez technology strengthens the recycled steel supply chain

Steelmakers in the United States and beyond have been melting ferrous scrap in electric arc furnace (EAF) mills for decades, and throughout that time, melt shop managers and scrap suppliers have taken measures to reduce the amount of copper introduced to the furnace.

While copper on its own is a valuable metal, in the steelmaking process, it is considered a “tramp element” that can introduce unwelcome qualities to recycled-content steel.

This decades-long attention to copper in the ferrous scrap supply has been a high priority for equipment and technology provider Eriez, including for its Business Development Manager-Recycling Mike Shattuck.

Shattuck says Eriez has partnered with many valued end users and systems integrators over the past dozen years when developing equipment and techniques to extract copper from the ferrous scrap stream, such as its Shred1 ballistic separator.

“We have listened to our customers’ needs, and with their help we have successfully undertaken more than 60 Shred1 installations worldwide that have consistently removed copper from millions of tons of scrap annually,” Shattuck says.

The Eriez Shred1 uses ballistics combined with a permanent magnet to make a low-copper ferrous product.

Shattuck says the consistency and reliability inherent in permanent magnets and ballistic separation (undertaken at a constant conveyor speed) creates a No. 1 (low copper) ferrous shred grade with consistent chemistry.

“We have listened to our customers’ needs, and with their help we have successfully undertaken more than 60 Shred1 installations worldwide.” – Mike Shattuck, market manager-recycling, Eriez

“When electromagnets are used for this application, the magnet heats up through the course of the day, which in turn affects the strength of the magnet providing for variabilities in the separation,” he says. “The consistent strength of the permanent magnets offers a distinct advantage of separators using electro pulleys. Consistent quality is the key.”

Once the optimal settings for the Shred1 ballistic separator are determined, the device does not need to be adjusted time and time again to get repeatable numbers, according to Shattuck.

In addition to ballistics separation, Eriez has determined that adding an additional scrap drum magnet can play a critical role in producing a low-copper ferrous shred with consistent chemistry for EAF melt shops around the world. Adding an additional scrap drum on the No. 2 product of the Shred1 drops out any stray nonferrous metals, including ICW and copper-rich fines.

Both electro and permanent scrap drum magnets can be used for this application. Eriez typically prefers to use permanent scrap drum magnets as they have several advantages over electro drum in these applications.

“Permanent drums typically have a wider field than electro, since we can install the permanent magnet blocks from end flange to end flange because we don’t have to leave room for coils,” Shattuck says. “This allows us to use a smaller drum and still have complete coverage across the feeder or conveyor feeding the drum, which offers another nice cost savings.”

For processors, the Eriez method boosts revenue with the production of a premium No. 2 shred and further aids profitability by increasing copper pickings while reducing manual labor in the picking house.

At EAF melt shops, a consistent low-copper No.1 shred offers cost and environmental advantages, says Shattuck. This comes in the form of higher yields and less slag with each melt and the effective outsourcing of “tramp element” removal to scrap suppliers.

With each passing year, as the steel industry supply chain becomes increasingly circular, Eriez technology will remain critical to help steelmakers turn old steel into new.

Descriptions of the Eriez product line for metal recyclers can be found at www.eriez.com/Recycling.