Conception of line for recycling the metal composite materiale with saturated reinforcement
Dorota Nagolska, Maria Langiewicz
Quarterly No. 1, 2009 pages 45-48
DOI:
keywords: metal composite casting, recycling process
abstract Growing requirements imposed on structural materials are conducive to wider use of various composite materials, inclusive of metal composites with saturated reinforcement. Production technology of these materials is mastered relatively well, nevertheless, the level of technology of their recycling remains rather low. In spite of the fact that the method of matrix metal recovery under controlled conditions is known, the solutions of technological lines of the process are still missing. Development of an idea of such a line is an important task, taking into account that in result of the recycling are obtained the matrix metal, the purity of which enables its nearly direct reuse, and, moreover, the reinforcement with metals residues saturated with the medium. The medium usually includes salts that, when stored together with the reinforcement, may give rise to hazard for the environment. Therefore, the paper presents a concept of a technological line the basic part of which is a furnace for metal separating from the composite reinforcement. Another parts of the line that enable removing the salt remaining in the reinforcement are: a grinding device, a washer, separators, dehydrators, dryers, and salt crystallizer that allows for its reuse in the recycling process. The paper also presents the principles of choosing the selected devices. Based on a simple heat balance the principles of choosing the furnace are determined, particularly concerning its capacity and working temperature, as well as the principles of determining parameters of the device for grinding the reinforcement remaining after the separation process. Grinding of the reinforcement separated in the recycling process is an important stage that significantly speeds up and improves separation of the reinforcement, metal and reinforcement medium residues. Differentiated character of the components (e.g. various hardness) causes significant difficulties in formulation of the requirements imposed on the grinding devices. The present paper formulates a proposal for choosing the grinding device based on the compressive strength instead of the hardness of the parts to be ground. Should only one type of the metal composite with saturated reinforcement be recycled, the device may be precisely chosen. On the other hand, in case of more differentiated materials the choice of the grinding devices may be much more problematic.