Process of Recycling Steel
Other People Are Reading
-
Collection and Transportation
-
The first step in recycling steel is to collect scrap steel. This could take any form from soup cans to junked cars. The scrap steel is gathered together and then transported by truck, barge and train to a processing facility where the steel will be recycled. The cargo is sent through a sensor to check for radiation. If any radiation is found in the scrap steel then the load will not be accepted and it will be processed elsewhere, possibly as hazardous waste. The scrap is then loaded onto an infeed conveyor belt, where it's checked once more for radiation, just to be safe.
Separation and Filtering
-
The infeed conveyor belt feeds the scrap steel into a series of grinders and cutters. The purpose of these wheels is to tear the scrap steel into small, fist sized chunks before it moves forward through the process. The separated components move across a conveyor belt where the ferrous (iron and steel) metals are separated from other components. Magnets pull the ferrous material across a gap, and non-ferrous material falls through the gap into a bin which will be disposed of elsewhere. The metals that are separated move on to the next step of the recycling process.
-
Re-Making
-
All of the metals that passed the magnetic drum must then be completely separated. Ferrous metals like iron and steel are sent to steel mills where they will be melted down and re-forged into new, steel products. Non-ferrous metals like copper and aluminum that make it through the process will be separated and sent to other facilities which will recycle them into new components as well. As long as the metals are in a pure state, they can be melted down again and re-forged into something new.
-
