How Do You Process Low-Grade Wire?

In this article, we are diving into how to process low-grade wire. While there are several methods, we will explain a tried-and-true approach that has worked well for us and our customers over the years. We will break this down step-by-step using a simple flowchart-style explanation.

1. Shredding

• Shredder: Start with a shredder—preferably a dual-shaft or quad-shaft shredder. As a rule of thumb, you can never go too big on a shredder. These types handle low-grade wire more effectively because they can deal with tough contaminants, like chunks of steel, without damage.

2. Magnetic Separation

• Magnet: After shredding, send the material through a magnet to remove ferrous metals. Options include a drum magnet or a cross-belt (overband) magnet.

3. Milling

• Vertical Mill: Next, the material goes into a mill. This can be a granulator, hammer mill, or vertical mill.
  • Why Use a Vertical Mill? Low-grade wire often contains hard, abrasive materials (like brass or stainless steel) that a vertical mill handles better. It reduces wear on the blades and produces a more consistent granular fraction.

4. Screening (First Stage)

• Screener: At this stage, a screener separates heavies (e.g., brass or heavy aluminum) from the finer material. While an eddy current separator is an alternative, a screener is a more cost-effective solution.

5. Dosing Hopper

• Dosing Hopper: Not a necessary stage but a preferred one. Feed the material from the screener into a dosing hopper. The hopper ensures a consistent flow of material into the turbo mill stage.
  • Why Use a Dosing Hopper? Turbo mills work best when running at full load (e.g., 180–215 amps for a 200-horsepower mill). The dosing hopper controls the material flow, ensuring the mill operates efficiently and produces more repeatable results.

6. Turbo Mill

• Turbo Mill: The turbo mill further processes the material into a finer, more uniform output.

7. Screening (Second Stage)

• Screener: A second screener separates the material into fractions:
  • Single-deck screener: Produces two fractions.
  • Double-deck screener: Produces three fractions.
  • The choice depends on budget and specific needs.

8. Air Tables

• Air Tables: In cases involving materials like automobile harness wire, residual non-magnetic stainless steel can still remain.

9. Final Magnet Separation

• Magnetic Head Pulley: In cases involving materials like automobile harness wire, residual non-magnetic stainless steel can still remain.
  • Solution: Use an ultra-high-gauss magnetic head pulley. Even though non-magnetic stainless steel is not normally attracted to magnets, the heat and stress from the milling process can make it slightly magnetic. A strong enough magnet at the end will pull out these pieces.

Flexibility and Scalability

This process works not only for low-grade wire but for other similar materials, including Telco wire. While Telco wire setups may require some adjustments, this general flowchart can still be applied.

For smaller-scale operations, we offer compact versions of vertical mills, turbo mills, air tables, and dosing hoppers, making this process adaptable to different production scales.

Final Thoughts

We hope this explanation gives you a clear understanding of how we process low-grade wire. If you have questions or need help with a specific setup, please reach out.