Eriez has developed the Copper Reduction Circuit for steel mills, an integrated system designed to help scrap processors produce premium low-copper shred.

Built around the Eriez Shred1® Ballistic Separator and a Magnetic Scrap Drum operating as a polishing stage, the Copper Reduction Circuit upgrades conventional shredded scrap into a premium ferrous product containing less than 0.20% copper.

The system also recovers additional clean ferrous material from streams directed to picking stations, increasing the amount of recycled low-copper steel available for use in the melt mix.

Addressing copper contamination in recycled scrap

Copper contamination remains a significant challenge for steelmakers using recycled scrap.

Conventional shredded scrap can contain more than 0.33% copper.

Because copper cannot easily be removed once it enters the melt, mills often need to limit the proportion of shredded scrap used in the furnace charge and rely more heavily on higher-cost metallics such as pig iron, direct reduced iron and prime scrap.

Mike Shattuck, Business Development Manager – Recycling at Eriez, said:

“Steelmakers are under increasing pressure to maximise recycled-steel utilisation without compromising product quality or furnace performance.

“The Copper Reduction Circuit addresses both sides of that equation. It enables processors to produce a cleaner, more consistent shred product.

“The result is greater flexibility in the furnace charge and more value recovered from every tonne of scrap.”

How the Shred1® Ballistic Separator works

At the heart of the system is the Shred1 Ballistic Separator.

This uses magnetic attraction and ballistic forces to separate processed shred into two material streams.

The premium No. 1 fraction, which typically represents around 75% of incoming material, consists of cleaner, more liberated ferrous shred containing less than 0.20% copper.

The remaining No. 2 fraction contains a higher concentration of copper-bearing and composite materials.

Magnetic Scrap Drum polishing stage

The No. 2 fraction then passes beneath a Magnetic Scrap Drum operating as a polishing stage.

The polishing drum removes between 1% and 3% of non-ferrous material and debris, helping to increase the yield from each melt.

Ferrous material recovered by the polishing drum is directed to the picking station, where copper-bearing materials are removed from the shred.

The remaining material is then diverted to the low-copper fraction as No. 1 low-copper shred.

Increasing melt yield

According to Eriez process data, only around 15% of the original infeed ultimately reached the picking station in one documented configuration.

The circuit has demonstrated low-copper shred performance in the 0.16% to 0.20% copper range.

When the Shred1 is combined with Magnetic Scrap Drum technology, the system has also significantly helped to increase melt yield.

Supporting greater use of recycled steel

Growing interest in both Shred1 technology and the Copper Reduction Circuit reflects the steel industry’s focus on increasing recycled-steel utilisation while maintaining scrap quality and furnace performance.

For more information about Eriez metals recycling technologies, visit the Eriez Metals Recycling section.