Sorting equipment provider Steinert recently announced the successful installation of their first XSS-F, an in-line system designed to extract copper (so-called ‘meatballs’) from shredded ferrous scrap. Installed in-line at a German recycling yard, this new technology is capable of processing high volumes of steel scrap directly out of the shredder.
The XSS-F utilizes high speed X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) technology provided by Olympus Innov-X, which allows the separation of scrap based on chemical composition. According to Steinert, Olympus Innov-X has been pioneering automated XRF for years, and then following a partnership which began with Steinert in 2010, things developed rapidly.
“This installation in Germany is now the first one worldwide that is installed in-line and operating continuously,” said Dr. Uwe Habich, CTO of Steinert. “This is a huge step and Steinert is excited about the opportunities for the industry and particularly for our customers.”
The new sorting system features Olympus Innov-X’s unique and proven X-Stream technology – a high speed XRF sensor unit capable of elemental analysis in milli-second time scales – engineered into an industrial grade Steinert system. Capable of a throughput of more than 100 tons per hour, the XSS-F features a two-metre belt width and an average end product containing < 0.20 percent copper.
The standard system model is composed of a conveyor-mounted spectrometer module, typically containing multiple tubes and detectors which provide the ability to detect and analyze every single piece of scrap material. In only a few milliseconds customer-defined sorting parameters will determine whether or not to divert that piece out of the main stream. Diverted material is ejected using Steinert’s high-powered compressed air valves.
In 2010 Massachusetts-based Olympus NDT Corporation ( a subsidiary of the Japan-based Olympus Corporation) acquired Innov-X Systems, Inc. According to Steinert, the company’s technology extends the reach of XRF, providing real-time, non-destructive analysis, and provides a full suite of on-site XRF products for analysis of Magnesium through Uranium, parts per million to 100 percent.
