More Pucking Problems

Aluminum puck, puck pieces, metal fragments, and packing peanuts - I dumped them right out of a box onto my desk. (See Miscellaneous)

1. Pucks explode in the furnace, causing safety issues and reducing metal recovery

It happens in the majority of furnaces (reverb) used in the industry. "Pucks run fine in one or two types of furnaces used in the aluminum smelting business. However, they are problematic and/or dangerous in the vast majority of current furnace technology...upwards of 80% of the industry," says Gregg Carpenter, Sr., President of Carpenter Metal Solutions, Inc. "Pucks bobble, smoke and burn."

Craig Romanowicz, Maintenance Supervisor for Revere Copper Products Inc., said the briquettes sent to its furnaces need to be 100% free of moisture. "...any liquid on chips can cause an explosion inside the furnace if the liquid contacts molten metal. For safety reasons we don't use fluids when milling," he said. "We don't even leave chips outside."⁽¹⁾

"When submerged in molten metal, pucks with encapsulated moisture can explode, splattering the metal. One smelter likened it to tossing grenades into the melt."⁽²⁾

And yes, pucks have liquid in them (unless you're dry machining.) While equipment manufacturers want you to believe otherwise, "a briquetter reclaims 90 to 95% of the metalcutting fluid..."⁽³⁾ (the rest is encapsulated in the briquette.) This statistic is supported further by Dean Dudley, president of Chip Systems International, in the same article: "...briquetters remove only 90%. You can't squeeze off as much as you can spin off...it's like a washing machine; it has a spin cycle, not a squeeze cycle."

2. Less money for pucks compared to the same weight in dry chips

The difference, 4-6%, is due to increased moisture, exploding pucks, and floating pucks. Smelters don't value pucks as much because of handling issues, safety concerns, etc.

3. Limited market, for lots of reasons

First - not many smelters (less than 20%) have the type of furnace required to most efficiently and safety handle pucks. (See explosion issue.)

Second, purity issues. As Jeff Solomon said: "In many cases, scrap consumers will not even buy these briquettes unless a qualified scrap company has produced them." ⁽⁴⁾

My pucker salesman says that's a workforce problem, not an equipment problem.

Hmmm. As Solomon (so wisely) said in the same article "It is impossible to control what the machine operator puts in...so therefore it is impossible control what comes out."

Bottom line: pucker machines aren't engineered to handle basic human nature.

Third: metal recovery. The majority of secondary smelters use reverb type furnaces to remelt. Pucks do not yield good recovery percentages in a reverb furnace; there is excessive loss due to dross and oxidation; they float in the furnace.

Nearly 100% of the dozens of metals buyers I talked with said unequivocally there is better recovery from chips. A smelter would rather have the higher yield, as would the supplier (the manufacturer of the chips), as would everyone!

Fourth: the increased need for energy to process pucks adds to the expense - and diminishes what smelters will pay for them. Often pucks must be shredded because they are contaminated, and because of the moisture, they require more energy to melt.

4. You're now also a puck manufacturer

Like every manufactured product, pucks have specifications that must be met for optimal ROI, like dryness, contamination, solids separation, density, consistency of alloy, and structural integrity. If you don't meet them, you lessen their resale value, and introduce liability issues.

5. It isn't a solid, you won't get the solids price upon resale

One of the claims I frequently ran across was that pucking turns chips back into a solid. It doesn't, not even close. Remember, even a pucking equipment manufacturer tells you to expect to see only 70% density.⁽⁵⁾ And, don't forget the secondary smelters, who pay you less for pucks because they have to unmanufacture them (turn them back into chips) to separate and dry them. The American Metals Market tracks the changing value of these commodities, and always gives the top price to dry chips.

6. It isn't a solid, it cannot be managed as a solid

"They don't handle like solids - they break apart. The puck machine manufacturers try to say pucks are solids but they break apart."⁽⁶⁾

7. Pucks' ferrous contamination must be removed before remelt

Additional work means additional charges. In many cases, the smelter must shred and then run the scrap through separation, adding cost to the process (and decreasing what you'll be paid.)

8. Transportation costs and issues

See Pucking Claims.

9. Additional noise pollution

Hydraulic compression isn't quiet no matter what they claim.

10. Increased maintenance and repair activity

My cousin works in maintenance at a major scrap handler in northern Indiana. He shared over Christmas that they have puckers from two different manufacturers, and they both go down consistently. Maybe it is the equipment. Of course, maybe it is him....

Pucking leads to continual equipment maintenance because the process causes rapid die wear due to the small surface of the chamber, constantly being slammed by metal. (Chip processing equipment typically has easily-replaced surfaces because of such wear.) And, should a solid wander into the chamber, you're damaging or destroying the die.

11. Slower throughput means processing lag time

Puckers are slower than continuous chip processing, so you lose floorspace while things are backed up.

⁽¹⁾ "Recovery Processes," Cutting Tool Engineering, July 2003, page 41
⁽²⁾ "The case against pucking - 2: Continuous chip management versus pucking," William Nemedi, President, Inter-Source Recovery Systems, Inc., Machining, July/August 2003, page 28
⁽³⁾ E. Santiago, Marketing Manager for Amada Cutting Technologies Inc., in "Recovery Processes," Cutting Tool Engineering, July 2003, page 40
⁽⁴⁾ "The case against briquetters: 1", Jeff Solomon, CEO, Globe Metal Recycling Services, Inc., Ste. Catherine, Quebec, Machining, July/August 2003
⁽⁵⁾ http://www.prab.com/chip%20processing%20pacesetter.html, February 2005
⁽⁶⁾ Ken Karpinski, Chairman of the Board, Bay Metal Inc.