Sorting solution for copper meatballs in ferrous products
The purity of iron scrap (Fe) is crucial for guaranteed sales in the steel industry. Operators of shredder plants using the STEINERT SteelMaster can now reliably undertake physical separation and free their ferrous products of copper meatballs.
Mainly handpickers are separating copper meatballs and free copper content from iron. With hundreds of objects passing over the sorting belt every second, it isn‘t easy for the handpickers to find and sort these problematic items, especially as they may be large or small, solid or weighty. The purity of the ferrous product, e.g. the basic requirement for use in steel mills, may therefore vary greatly, making the product harder to sell. By deploying a combination of ballistic and magnetic effects, the new STEINERT SteelMaster is a good and efficient addition for reducing the amount of manual work needed.
STEINERT SteelMaster optimised for tough conditions
Following the tried and tested electric magnetic drums (STEINERT MTE) for recovery and initial cleaning of the ferrous fraction, the use of downstream magnets results in greatly improved quality and much less manual sorting. The STEINERT SteelMaster is such a downstream component. Based on customer feedback and adapted to the tough conditions experienced in shredder plants, the device has been redesigned. For example, the mechanics of the belt section have been changed to improve material flow and separation properties, simplify maintenance and reduce the copper content in the iron to < 0.2 %. The robust design, typical of Steinert, stands for a long service life and good availability of the technology. The common grain sizes are 20 – 400 mm with high sorting efficiency. The throughput of 75 t/h per metre machine width depends on the material composition.
Depending on input material and sorting task, other magnet-based sorting machines can be fitted upstream or downstream as required to separate out impurities and fine or free copper content.