Metal Sorting Machine | AISORT
Application Overview — Metal Recovery
Metal Sorting in Modern Recycling Facilities
Metal sorting in recycling spans ferrous recovery (magnetic), non-ferrous separation (eddy current), and increasingly sensor-based sorting for alloy-specific and purity-critical applications. Modern metal sorters combine multiple sensing technologies to handle the full spectrum of metals present in shredder residue, WEEE, end-of-life vehicles, and construction waste.
Material Characteristics and Sorting Challenges
Key challenges in metal sorting include: distinguishing metals of similar density and color (e.g., zinc vs. aluminum, stainless vs. nickel alloys); handling entangled and interlocked metal pieces from shredders; removing non-metallic contaminants that pass through magnetic and eddy current stages; and achieving the purity levels required by secondary smelters (typically 98-99.5% for most grades).
Recommended Sorting Technology Stack
Overband/drum magnet (ferrous) → eddy current (non-ferrous bulk) → induction sensor (stainless detection) → XRT (heavy/light metal separation) → RGB + AI (color and shape-based final sort). For alloy-specific applications, add LIBS or XRF-based elemental analysis.
Performance Benchmarks
| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| Ferrous Recovery | 98-99% |
| Non-Ferrous Recovery | 90-97% |
| Throughput | 10-30 t/h |
| Particle Range | 5-300mm |
These benchmarks represent achievable performance with modern sensor-based sorting equipment, assuming properly sized, well-maintained equipment operating on representative feedstock. Actual results depend on specific material composition, throughput, and operating conditions.