Secondary Aluminum Smelting

Secondary Aluminum Smelting is the process of recycling aluminum scrap into aluminum that can be used and recycled over and over again in a true closed loop process.
The increased adoption of recycled aluminum in manufacturing has created significant economic and environmental benefits for both industry and consumers.
Currently, more than 90 percent of aluminum used in automotive and construction applications is recycled and the trend is constantly growing also in other industrial sectors because of the benefits it provides. In fact, secondary aluminum production not only needs less energy (recycling scrap aluminum requires only 5% of the energy used to make new aluminum), it also reduces landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Once collected and sorted, aluminum scrap is de-coated - typically through the use of a rotary kiln - to remove coatings and contaminants applied to aluminum products.
From rotary de-coaters, the hot aluminum shreds (at about 500 °C) are then conveyed to the recycling furnace and turned into molten aluminum to be casted into ingots or billets, ready for subsequent processing into new aluminum products.

Magaldi developed and manufactured a Hot Shred Conveyance System to connect the rotary de-coaters with the downstream melting furnace.
The Ecobelt® system is able to handle the hot aluminum shreds in the most reliable way, ensuring increased plant safety and a better process capability. Furthermore, being completely enclosed in a steel casing, the Ecobelt® system guarantees the lowest temperature drop, allowing to re-use thermal energy released from upstream processes.