Retech, a SECO/WARWICK Group company, will install an aluminum chip recycling preparation system featuring their patented ReMelt Thermofuge® chip dryer. The system will be installed in the plant’s casting house to manage in-house scrap generated from the company’s bank of machining centers. The system’s unique design offers several advantages over other such systems.

The recent addition of Remelt’s chip drying, handling, and recycling solutions effectively positions SECO/WARWICK Group and Retech as suppliers of complete vertical integration of metallurgical processing equipment, including equipment for melting, atmosphere & vacuum heat treating & brazing, casting, handling, and now chip processing.

“Thanks to acquiring the ReMelt company and its know-how we can now offer specialization in material handling, waste processing, and system integration. It allows us to offer an even broader spectrum of metallurgy solutions to our customers.” said Retech’s President and Managing Director, Earl Good.

Reduce Energy Costs And Material Waste

Traditional thermal dryer systems heat the chips to temperatures that remove both the moisture and the residual oils, which generate considerable volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which in turn present considerable environmental and personal safety regulatory compliance costs.

Alternatively, many casting houses truck their aluminum chips off-site to a 3rd party toll-melter for recycling, but all the additional handling required comes with a variety of costs as well.

Unlike traditional thermal dryers, Thermofuge only removes the moisture, leaving the oil on the chips. Instead, the oil is left to combust in the furnace’s side well, creating an oxygen depleted environment which provides a significant increase in aluminum yields.

The Thermofuge system has its own thermal oxidizer (afterburner) to mitigate any incidental fumes, but because the Thermofuge process has been classified by the EPA to be in a lower risk category compared to traditional thermal dryers, it is subject to far less strenuous regulatory compliance, oversight, and mitigation. Additionally, the afterburner is equipped to recuperate its waste heat, which is reapplied to preheat the incoming materials, reducing energy consumption and emissions further still.

For this project, Retech will be customizing the Thermofuge to work with the plant’s existing chip conveyor and coolant filtration system. Worldwide, ReMelt has installed 18 of their Thermofuge systems so far, some with chip drying capacity to process up to 12,000 lbs. per hour. At greenfield sites, their systems include ReMelt’s own under-floor chip conveyor and coolant filtration systems as well.

The combination of lowered fuel consumption, waste heat recovery, reduced labor, reduced regulatory burden, smaller waste stream, and reduced chip handling all add up to considerable savings. A traditional thermal dryer could have an annual operating cost of $150k, while a comparable capacity Thermofuge system will cost just $45k per year to operate.