Tube City Revs Up New Shredder

Riverside Engineering has announced the start up and commissioning of an M-88 shredder and downstream separation system at the Tube City IMS West Mifflin, Pa., scrap recycling facility.

The upgraded shredder system installed by Tube City IMS outside of Pittsburgh includes the 88 x 112 shredder, a feed system, Steinert magnet separation equipment, and what Riverside calls its “Controls Upgrade with H2PRO Water Injection.”

The shredding and separation process is controlled by a Rockwell Automation system designed by San Antonio-based Riverside. The company’s Cruise Control automation platform “will adjust feed rates based upon mill loading and several other operating parameters maximizing shredder output and efficiency while reducing the need for operator interaction,” according to a news release from Riverside Engineering.

Tube City and Riverside Engineering began developing a working relationship 10 years ago when Riverside was influential in upgrading the shredding plant at that time. “We were seriously considering closing our shredding operation because the margins were minimal and costs high; however upon consulting with Riverside, we realized that investing in new technologies would lead to significant increases and reduced costs,” says David Coslov of Tube City IMS.

He adds, “Riverside also helped develop a refurbishment plan for an old Newell shredder that Tube City owned, to replace our existing Hammermill [model]. Riverside consistently provides continuous improvement suggestions for our shredding operation, which will keep our shredding operation strong for years to come.”

Based on the new capital investment, Coslov expects Tube City IMS to increase its shredded scrap production capacity at the upgraded plant by 25 percent.

“We have a long relationship with Tube City through supporting its existing Newell 80104 shredder over the years,” says Randy Brace, president of Riverside. “We had a smooth upgrade to the M-88 without any need for repositioning of the infeed or motor drive. The installation required no additional foundation work from the 80104 footprint and the installation was done in less than four weeks by Tube City’s field service team,” adds Brace.

Tube City IMS LLC (www.tubecity.com) provides outsourced steel services, including scrap management, raw materials procurement, raw materials optimization, slag processing, metal recovery and surface conditioning services to steel mills and foundries. Based in Glassport, Pa., the company has operations at 72 plants in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America and Asia.

San Antonio-based Riverside Engineering (www.megashredder.com) provides metal shredding equipment to the recycling industry. The M-Series Shredder product line is designed to meet the needs for recycling operations of all sizes, according to the company.