Method and system for recycling aluminum alloy rims using spectrographic analysis

A system for recycling aluminum alloy rims, the system comprising:

• an aluminum alloy rim transfer mechanism for providing a feed of a plurality of aluminum alloy rims of different compositions;
• a composition analyzer for analyzing material of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims, the composition analyzer being operable to determine a composition of the material of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims to provide a plurality of composition measurements, wherein the composition analyzer comprises a radiation emitter for heating the material of each rim in at least one spot on a surface of that rim to a point where the material will emit a characteristic radiation while cooling down, a sensor for detecting that characteristic radiation, and a processor for determining from that characteristic radiation a composition of the material;
• a computer linked for electronic communication with the composition analyzer to, in operation, receive the plurality of composition measurements from the composition analyzer, the computer comprising a non-transient memory for storing allocation instructions and a processor in electronic communication with the non-transient memory for allocating the material of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims to a batch in a plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rim material based on the plurality of composition measurements and the allocation instructions stored on the non-transient memory;
• a weigh scale in electronic communication with the computer, the weigh scale being operable to determine a weight of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims, and wherein the processor is operable to allocate each rim to the batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims based on both the weight and the composition of that rim;
• and
• for each batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims, storing in the non-transient memory of the computer a plurality of batch-specific variables, wherein
• the batch specific variables comprise a batch-specific total weight of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch, and a batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch,
• the batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch is calculated based on the weight and the composition of each aluminum alloy rim previously allocated to that batch, and
• for each aluminum alloy rim, allocating that aluminum alloy rim to the batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims is based on, in addition to the composition of that aluminum alloy rim and the weight of that aluminum alloy rim, the batch-specific total weight of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch and the batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch.

A method of recycling aluminum alloy rims, the method comprising:

• providing a feed of a plurality of aluminum alloy rims of different compositions;
• for each rim in the feed of aluminum alloy rims, determining a composition of material of that aluminum alloy rim by heating the material of that rim to a point where the material will emit a characteristic radiation while cooling down, using a sensor to detect that characteristic radiation, and using a processor to analyze that characteristic radiation to determine the composition of the material;
• allocating the material of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims to a batch in a plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rim material based at least partly on the plurality of composition measurements,
• providing a weigh scale in electronic communication with a computer, the weigh scale being operable to determine a weight of each rim in the plurality of aluminum alloy rims, and wherein a processor is operable to allocate each rim to the batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims based on both the weight and the composition of that rim;
• and
• for each batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims, storing in a non-transient memory of the computer a plurality of batch-specific variables, wherein
• the batch-specific variables comprise a batch-specific total weight of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch, and a batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch,
• the batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch is calculated based on the weight and the composition of each aluminum alloy rim previously allocated to that batch, and
• for each aluminum alloy rim, allocating that aluminum alloy rim to the batch in the plurality of batches of aluminum alloy rims is based on, in addition to the composition of that aluminum alloy rim and the weight of that aluminum alloy rim, the batch-specific total weight of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch and the batch-specific average composition of aluminum alloy rims previously allocated to that batch.