Method for treatment of waste metal and liquid dross

Abstract

In a method for treating liquid dross wherein the dross is situated in a skimming trough and charged into a rotating, substantially horizontal cooling pipe through which it passes so that the dross is cooled to a temperature below the melting point thereof to obtain a granulated form, the dross is charged from the skimming tank into the cooling pipe and passed therethrough substantially in the absence of air or oxygen whereupon the cooled granulated dross is subjected to an autogenous grinding process, the ground dross then being separated into a granulated metal fraction and a fine-grained fraction. Apparatus for performing the method of the invention includes a hood located over the inlet side of the cooling pipe so that the entrance of air into the pipe is substantially prevented. The skimming trough is sealingly engaged to the hood so that the dross is charged from the skimming trough into the cooling pipe without any substantial contact with the air. An autogenous grinding mill is provided having an inlet communicating with an outlet opening of the cooling pipe.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.