Aluminium
Profiles, rims, cast iron and chips: what lifts the class and what presses it.
Aluminium is the metal in which recycling has the biggest lever. Primary aluminium is formed in the melting flow electrolysis and consumes twenty times as much energy as the same kilogram from a remelting plant. That is why aluminium scrap has a stable circle of customers, even if the quotation yieldes.
The classification is based on the division of the material. Knet alloys such as EN AW-6060, from which window and facade profiles are drawn, contain little silicon and can be processed again into profiles. Cast alloys such as AlSi9Cu3 contain nine percent silicon and copper — material that has lost nothing in a profile press. The two currents run separately, and a casting part in the profile bundle pulls the whole bundle down, not just itself.
Almost always the weight is underestimated. Aluminium is light, and a brimful pendant window profiles often weighs less than two hundred kilograms. Those who aim at a scale limit or at the 500 kilograms for Germany-wide collection, calculates better in cubic meters than in kilograms for aluminium.
Why is aluminium cast rated differently than bare aluminium profiles?
The quotation for primary aluminium on the London metal exchange is only the starting point; it is put in dollars, so the exchange rate is involved. The difference is made by the alloy: Blank profiles are AlMgSi-Knetware and go back almost unchanged to recovery. Casting contains silicon and copper and becomes cast again. Therefore, both grades are separated in the table.
How do I distinguish aluminium from zinc die casting?
The weight, and the difference is large: zinc diecasting is about two and a half times as dense as aluminium, a Zamak handle has a lead-weight effect. Aluminium sounds brighter, zinc dull when hit. When bending, aluminium gives in, zinc die casting breaks brittle and shows a coarse-grained, glittering fracture surface. Magnetic is neither, the magnet doesn't help here.
Do I have to remove rubber seals and steel screws from aluminium profiles?
Yeah, that's what the classification is on. Window and façade profiles include glass residues, seals, fittings and screws; insulating profiles also carry a plastic bridge between the shells. Eloxal is uncritical, thick powder coating or paint runs as its own grade. A magnet pulled over the profile finds every forgotten screw.
Does mixed aluminum bring less than varietally separate?
Yeah. Mixed aluminum is a separate, lower grade because it cannot be predicted which alloys are in it. Each grade gets its set separately: profiles, plates, castings, chips, rims. And because aluminium is light, kilograms only come together with volume — who collects reaches the scale limit and from 500 kilograms the Collection.
Does an aluminum engine block count as an aluminium cast?
As cast alloy yes, clean it is rare. Cylinder bushings made of grey cast iron, standing bolts, bearing shells and pass pins are usually still in it — a magnet finds them. Oil and coolant must be completely removed. The block is disassembled and magnet-free as aluminium cast, with steel components as mixed aluminium. You can deliver it to Ludwigshafen without an appointment.
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