Method and system for recovering copper from automobile shredder residue
OwnerThomas A. Valerioinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Processing copper wire concentrate produced from processing ASR to generate a bare copper product. The disclosed systems and methods employ processes that remove constituents from the copper wire concentrate that can damage conventional chopping equipment. After removing the constituents that can damage conventional chopping equipment, the process employs a grinder to grind the remaining copper wire to liberate the bare copper metal from the insulation material.
Claims9
A method for recovering bare copper metal from an ASR copper wire concentrate comprising steps of:
- receiving ASR copper wire concentrate comprising a copper wire component and a non-copper metal component, the copper wire component comprising copper metal and an insulation material, wherein the non-copper metal component has a density greater than the density of copper, a hardness value greater than a hardness value of copper, or a thickness greater than the thickness of the copper wire component;
- processing the ASR copper wire concentrate in a shredder to produce shredded ASR copper wire concentrate;
- separating the shredded ASR copper wire concentrate into a light fraction and a heavy fraction using an air classifier, wherein the light fraction comprises the copper wire component and wherein the heavy fraction comprises the non-copper metal component;
- and
- processing the light fraction in a grinder to liberate the copper metal of the copper wire component from the insulation material.
A system for recovering bare copper metal from an ASR copper wire concentrate, the system comprising:
- a shredder for processing the ASR copper wire concentrate, the ASR copper wire concentrate comprising a copper wire component and a non-copper metal component, the copper wire component comprising copper metal and an insulation material, wherein the non-copper metal component has a density greater than the density of copper, a hardness value greater than a hardness value of copper, or a thickness greater than the thickness of the copper wire component;
- an air classifier for separating the shredded ASR copper wire concentrate into a light fraction and a heavy fraction, wherein the light fraction comprises the copper wire component and wherein the heavy fraction comprises the non-copper metal component;
- and
- a grinder for processing the light fraction to liberate the copper metal of the copper wire component from the insulation material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.