Scrap Processing, Sorting, and Preparation Equipment
The processing chain
Scrap moves from receipt through sorting, size reduction, cleaning, and densification to a saleable product. Candidates should know the main equipment and its purpose: shears for cutting plate and structural; balers for compressing light iron and nonferrous; shredders (hammermills) for reducing mixed feed, followed by separation; briquetters for turnings; granulators for wire and cable; and magnets, eddy-current separators, and air classifiers for sorting.
Sorting methods
Manual sorting remains important for quality control. Mechanical and sensor-based sorting - magnetic separation for ferrous, eddy current for nonferrous, density and media separation, and sensor sorting by color or composition - increase throughput. Understand that each stage has a purpose: size reduction liberates materials, separation concentrates them, and cleaning removes contamination.
Traps to watch
- Confusing a baler with a shear; they do different jobs.
- Assuming shredder output is finished product; it requires post-shred separation.
- Overlooking maintenance and downtime as a cost driver.
- Ignoring that mixed feed reduces recovery and product quality.
Worked example
A mixed load of light iron with copper wire and aluminum. Rule of thumb: shred first to liberate, then magnet-sort ferrous, then eddy-current-sort nonferrous, then hand-clean the nonferrous. Each pass raises product grade; skipping a pass lowers price.