Académique Documents
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RECYCLE
Workgroup 9
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Materials recycling and sustainability
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INDEX
Introduction 4
Recycle of valuable materials from shot projectiles.. 7
o Recovery of spent bullets......................... 7
o Primary processing 8
o Secondary processing. 9
o Melting into ingots 11
Environmental impact and energetic expenses. 12
o Global impact 12
o Energetic impact. 12
o Environmental impact. 13
Economic impact.. 14
References. 16
Annex I Electromagnetic induction and Faradays law.. 17
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INTRODUCTION
This project goal is to recover spent projectiles used by military forces on shooting drills, and extract valuable
metals such as copper and lead for its recycle.
The project will focus on the recovery of usable materials from three different munitions: 5,56x45mm NATO (also
known as .223 Remington), 7,62x51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) and 12,7x99mm NATO (.50 BMG). The main reason is
that those are standardized NATO munitions used by the militaries of 28 different nations, including the United States
of America, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Canada, along other nations. Thanks to the wide deployment
of those munitions, there is a big amount of used ammunition recoverable from shooting ranges and training facilities.
Most modern munitions used by military forces consist in a two piece assembly: a shell, containing an
explosive propellant (usually smokeless powder) and a projectile or bullet that is the part actually shot away.
Image 1: Above a fully assembled bullet, and below a disassembled bullet, showing the shell (on the left) and the projectile (on the
right)
Projectiles can range from a simple metallic ogive from complicated designs with different parts and materials.
Bullets usually have a core made from a dense metal (lead or tungsten, sometimes copper is used) and an exterior
jacket made of a material hard enough to resist the propellant ignition but soft enough to not generate excessive wear
at the weapon bore (usually copper, sometimes aluminum or Teflon are used). Some other parts may be present:
armor-piercing tips, tracer mixes
Regarding the projectiles intended to be recycled:
Image 2: An American 5,56x45mm bullet with the M855 tip sectioned. There is a clear difference between the lead core and the steel
penetrator tip.
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consist in a lead-antimony core and a copper jacket; the M62 includes a small pyrotechnic mix to help to keep track of
the bullet flight path to facilitate aiming.
Image 3: A 7,62x51mm bullet with the M993 projectile. It has a solid tungsten core and a copper wrapping. Black paint on the tip is
used to identify the bullet as an armor penetrating round.
Image 4: A 12,7x99mm bullet with an armor piercing M2 project and a section of the projectile itself, with a copper jacket and a steel
penetrator.
Image 5: the bullets and their respective projectiles, from left to right: 12,7x99mm, 7,61x51mm and 5,56x45mm.
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An analysis of the current ammunition market shows that there is a large potential for ammunition recycling.
Nowadays, the use of weapons is one of the most important data for measuring the power of a country. This is
basically because weapons are constantly used for protecting economical, mineral, energetic and other important
resources. But not only the states use the weapons, also the citizens use the weapons for different activities or reasons:
hunting, self-defense, sportive shooting, collectors...
Actually it is estimated that yearly, over US$1.5 trillion are spent on military expenditures worldwide (2.7% of
global GDP). This represents a decline from 1990 when military expenditures made up 4% of world GDP. Part of this
goes to the procurement of military hardware and services from the military industry. In 2004 over US$30 billion were
spent in the international arms trade (a figure that excludes domestic sales of arms). According to SIPRI (Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute), the volume of international transfers of major weapons in 201014 was 16 per
cent higher than in 20052009. And the ve largest exporters in 201014 were the United States, Russia, China,
Germany and France, and the ve biggest importers were India, Saudi Arabia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
and Pakistan.
The arms trade has also been one of the sectors impacted by the credit crunch, with total deal value in the
market halving from US$32.9 billion to US$14.3 billion in 2008, although the market is slowly recovering due to the
changes in the economical perspectives that are helping to incentiveze states and private customers to invest again in
this market. In spite of it, it is very important to remark that many industrialized countries have a domestic arms
industry to supply their own military forces and this produces many times that this market has an important
dependency of the state investments.
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RECYCLE OF VALUABLE MATERIALS FROM SHOT PROJECTILES
A general overview of the process shows that the recycling itself requires 4 main steps. The environmental and
economic impact will also be studied.
Secondary
Recovering spent Primary proccessing: Melting into ingots
proccessing: separate
bullets from trainning separate bullets from and sell as raw
the different
facilities the soil materials
recyclable materials
The correct design of the shooting fields and the machinery used to recover the bullets are critical factors in
this project. Because of it, in this section, these two factors will be treated, trying to give the best solutions basing on
different analysis and studies that have been done by different experts in these fields.
Normally, shooting fields are composed by shooting stalls and targets, placed in front of a wall or embankment
to stop bullets after hitting the targets. Usually, bullets penetrate the soil several inches and are left there without any
further action. This project aims to, periodically, dig into those embankments and extract the used bullets, which
usually are deformed and/or shattered.
The degree of deformation depends on the bullet speed (faster bullets are more deformed) and on the
hardness of the soil and its homogeneity (more compact and humid soils generate more deformation, and anomalies
on the soil, such as roots, rocks, other bullets, etc. cause even more deformation to the bullet).
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Image 7: Some recovered bullets with different degrees of deformation, and an undamaged bullet (above).
The best way to recover the bullets is to extract several inches of the front layer embankment with a bulldozer
and then process that material in the primary processing (in a process similar to the one used to extract gold nuggets
and dust in gold mining).
PRIMARY PROCCESSING
For this step, a trommel screening system will be used to separate gravel, soils and other worthless materials
from the projectiles that shall be recycled.
Trommel screening is a separation method used in sorting and separation techniques for resource recovery.
Rotary screens, generally called trommels, have been used primarily in mineral processing and other separation
operations. The high throughput and effective size separation have supported the increase use of trommel screening in
the municipal solid waste (MSW) sector. A trommel screen or drum (as shown in image 8) is simply a rotating tubular
sieve, which operates based on a balance between gravitational forces and angular momentum in order to separate
different components by size in an automated fashion.
The efficiency and range of separation achieved by a trommel is governed by the declination angle of the
rotating drum, the size of the screen opening and the rotational speed of the drum. Typical drum speeds are in the
range 10 to 20 rpm, and may be adjusted to govern the passage rate and efficiency. The rotational motion of the
cylinder combined with its declination angle determines the rate of particle collision with the trommel surface, and
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hence can be used to tune the rate of particle separation. Rotational velocities common in municipal solid waste
separation tend to be higher than in mineral processing because of the need to open bags, break up the material and
increase separation. Increased trommel speeds allow the material to travel a greater distance up inside the trommel
before centrifugal forces are overtaken by gravity, which causes the particles to drop back to the bottom of the
trommel at greater velocities. The interaction of particle size, trommel aperture size, declination angle, drum length
and rotational speed are all necessary parameters that need to be addressed when designing a screening unit.
SECONDARY PROCCESSING
Once the bullets have been separated from the soil, they have to be separated into their different constituent
metals in order to be properly recycled. The secondary separation consists in two steps: shredding the bullets into
smaller fragments easier to handle and recycle and separating the different metals.
After bullets have been shredded, the different metals shall be sorted in
order to be melted and sold as ingots. For the separation, different processes will be used according to the different
constituents. As tungsten and mild steel are way harder than the other metals, they will remain intact, and can be
separated via magnetic separation with electromagnets (tungsten is paramagnetic and steel is ferromagnetic, while
copper and lead are diamagnetic) and sold as is, to manufacture new armor piercing bullets. Copper and lead can be
separated via eddy current separation.
Magnetism is a form of separating mixtures which involves using a magnet to attract another magnetic object
away from the substance it is in. This technique is based on the different magnetic susceptibility of materials and their
magnetic behavior (paramagnetism, diamagnetism or ferromagnetism). Ferromagnetic materials require relatively
weak magnetic fields to be attracted and devices to separate these materials usually have magnets that are
permanently magnetized (permanent magnets do not require electricity to maintain their magnetic fields).
Paramagnetic materials require stronger magnetic fields and these can only be achieved and maintained by
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electromagnets (large wire coils around an iron frame, with current
continuously passing through the coils creating a magnetic field within
the iron; the field is concentrated across an air gap in the circuit).
For mild steel separation, a permanent magnet is enough, as
mild steel (iron with less than 2% of carbon per mass) is heavily attracted
by magnetic fields. This separator uses a rotating iron disc to concentrate
the magnetic field and remove the magnetic particles from the non-
magnetic. It essentially consists of a permanent magnet which produces
a magnetic field across the air gap and a belt which passes through the
air gap. Mineral particles are fed from a vibrating feed onto the belt and
through the magnetic field. The magnetic particles (mild steel) are
attracted to the disc above the belt and from there are removed from
Image the field by the disc above the belt and from there are removed from the field by the discs rotation they fall from the
10: Electromagnetic separator mounted at
discend.
discharge and are collected at the side of the belt. The non-ferromagnetic particles (copper and lead) are collected at the end
of the belt.
To separate the diamagnetic materials, an eddy current separator shall be used. In order to begin, it is needed
to recall the physics regarding electricity. It is known that the electron is one of the elements of an atom. Electrons are
found around the nucleus of an atom. Those electrons have negative electrostatic charge. During the nuclear reaction it
can move from one atom to another. The directions that the electrons use to move have no bounding unless it is forced
to move to an individual direction. This movement of electrons by some force in particular direction is known as
electrical current. The force that makes an electron to move in an individual direction is called the electromotive force
or E.M.F. Battery is one of the sources of the E.M.F. On the other hand resistance gives the electrons a break to move
forward. The materials that have a low resistance are known as the conductor. The property of a metal that measures
its ability to conduct electricity is called electrical conductivity of metal and it shows how easily electrons move through
that metal. Metals usually have a good electrical conductivity as the electrons can move very easily. They have a
definite property of sharing electrons. The highest electrical conductivity occurs in metals that have only one electron
occupying a state in a shell of an atom. Gold, silver and copper are the metals having good electric conductivity.
After a review of this property it became clear that the electrical conductivity of copper (100% IACS=59 MS/m)
is very different from the electrical conductivity of lead (8.35% IACS=5MS/m). It is known that there are separators for
the separation of plastic waste from the metal. It has been suggested that lead can behave like plastic (so to be as a
non-conducting material), and copper will act as a metal (conductive material) if such equipment is used for separation.
Eddy current theory is based on electromagnetic induction, which will be described below. Theoretical
explanations regarding the physics behind eddy current separation can be found at annex I. The main work of the Eddy
current separator is based on the different
electrical conduction of metals and non-
metals. The eddy current separator
usually consists of a short conveyor driven
from the feed end and a rapidly rotating
system of magnets. It generates high-
frequency changing magnetic fields. The
conveyor makes the waste flow to
rotating induction pulley which is
incorporated in the head drum. By
changing the magnetic fields the flow of
eddy current in the metals can be
increased. This eddy current works in the
opposite direction to the nearest pole of a
magnet. When metals come near to the
magnetic field, they get lifted and
Image 11: Eddy current separator. expulsed to one appropriate collecting
canal. The force depends on magnetic
field frequency and conductivity of particles. In nonferrous colors metals like aluminum, copper which has high
electrical conductivity the eddy currents are big because of it and, therefore, objects are jumps at the long distance
during separation process. In the ferrous black metals big eddy currents are also found, but due to magnetic field the
attractive force to the surface of the drum dominates over the repulsive force. Materials with small conduction are
almost not affected by the generated magnetic field and therefore drop straight down. In practice an optimal removal
can be achieved through adjustment of the separator. Eddy current separating systems of the modern generation are
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capable of separating even small 2 mm particles. Initially, these separators are designed to separate non-magnetic
metals (conductors such as aluminum, copper) from non-metals (dielectrics, such as plastic, wood). No example their
use for the separation of metals could be found. But as in the presented case the electrical conductivity of lead is much
smaller than copper, it was concluded that such equipment can be used for separation.
Once the metals are fully separated from one another, a melting and ingot casting process will be carried out.
For this two final processes induction type of furnaces will be used for the melting of copper and lead, due to the higher
melting temperature of copper, 1083C. In this section, the melting process of copper will be explained but the basics
are valid for molten lead.
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Image 14: A schematic of a cold-chamber die casting
machine.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND ENERGETIC EXPENSES
The environmental impact and energetic expense is critical for companies, as these two factors affect many
other factors, as tax basis, state allowances, overall profitability, reduction of indirect cost (electric fee) and the
overall image of the company as a sustainable and eco-friendly company.
For this reason, it is very important to quantify these concepts. In order to do so, there are many different
approaches, but one of the most common and effective way is knowing how the impact is reduced comparing to other
processes and other companies, to make an idea on how much a corporation that recycles saves compared to a
company that does not.
GLOBAL IMPACT
The consumption of metals is actually essential for the human development; they are needed for building
structures and for developing new technologies. Due to that, the demand of metals has increased in the last years,
principally in emerging economies and developing countries, which have triggered an increment in the prices of many
metals; for instance, the demand of aluminum and copper has doubled in the last two decades.
Obviously this increment of the demand has brought new challenges, most of them environmental. Some of
the most remarkable are:
Increment of the environmental pressure due to the extraction and manufacturing of raw materials.
Increment of the energy demand, generating a potential energy crisis.
Great dependency on specific countries and companies due to the limited quantities of some resources,
associated with insufficient environment protection laws, putting ecosystems in danger.
Social inequalities and tensions due to the intensive exploitation of resources in one area without an
associated benefit to the local communities.
Although it is practically impossible to fully eliminate those issues, recycling may help to reduce them.
Different studies performed by public and private entities have quantified the impact of recycling metals, and the
potential benefits are indisputable:
ENERGETIC IMPACT
Regarding energy saving, recycled metals require way less energy to be manufactured compared to the
extraction of metals from ore, as there is no need to reduce the oxides and sulfides to obtain the pure metal. Therefore,
recycled steel requires 80% less energy than new steel; producing copper from ore requires up to seven times more
energy than recycling copper; recycling aluminum can save up to 95% of the energy required to obtain aluminum from
bauxite.
RECYCLED METAL % SUPPLIED ENERGY SAVINGS (compared to ore
metals)
Iron and Steel 45 up to 95%
Copper 43 up to 85%
Aluminum 32 up to 74%
Lead 55 up to 65%
Zinc 19 up to 60%
Energy saving is especially important as it has two important implied aspects. In one hand, energy is expensive,
especially in developed countries, and, in the other hand, energy production is one of the main causes of global
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warming, as nowadays most of the worlds energy comes from non-renewable sources that generate greenhouse effect
gases upon its burn. Recycling helps to reduce the energetic dependence on fossil fuels, as a recycled material requires
less energy for its manufacture than new materials, and, consequently, recycled products generate less CO2, which is
another important factor, as the global regulatory tendency is to limit more and more the emissions of greenhouse
effect gases.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Regarding environmental impact, recycling may help to reduce the environmental issues raised on mining
sites. The mining activity require infrastructures, machinery and chemicals, and those requirements are very dangerous
for the environment, as they change the landscape, generate contaminants from the burn of fossil fuels and
contaminate the land and water with toxic substances (heavy metals, salts, NO x, SOx).
Recycling may also reduce the impact of the transport of the materials, as the recycled metal sources tend to
be closer to manufacturing sources than mines, and, the content of usable raw matter in scrap metals is significantly
higher than in mining ore.
The recycle of metals is extremely fast, effective and simple, because in most of them it is only required its
melting in foundries. In this way, the metallic pieces, structures or devices can be easily recycled allowing maintaining a
steady supply to the industry and saving a huge amount of materials and energetic resources.
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ECONOMIC IMPACT
The recycled metals, after processing, can be sold to many different industries applications with a very good
competitively.
Copper:
Copper is a metal used for many different
applications, such as electrical wires, water and gas pipes, heat
exchangers or coins; the recycled copper can also be used to
produce new ammunition. The main copper utility is wire
functions. The reason is that copper is a metal with high
durability, resistant and principally for its high electric
conductivity, that gives to the copper an importance in the
distribution of the electricity by wires. So the main sectors
where the copper is uses are the construction and in
telecommunications. Also copper is used in agriculture, in salts
used to fertilize crops.
Copper is a relatively expensive metal, and its recycle
has an economic justification: the copper price in April 2016 is
2.11$/lb. The copper price is descending in the last years.
JPMorgan has made a recent study of the copper price and predict that the decrease will continue but at a lower speed,
the price at the end of 2016 is estimated in 2.05$ and in 2017 1.91$. The estimation predicts that this will be the lowest
price that the copper is going to reach in this decade because the price will increase in the following years, in 2018 it
will recover to 2.22 $/lb and at long term is predicted a high increase that will situate the copper price close to 3.4$/lb.
Also the copper price was recently boosted by the inflation in China.
The mechanical properties of copper are:
Melting point: 1084C.
Density 8,96 g/cm .
3
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Lead
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REFERENCES
Notes taken in class and presentations of the subject Recycling of Materials.
http://www.army.mil/article/41283/
http://usarmorment.com/pdf/M855A1.pdf
http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/rifle/762mm_ammo.html
http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/mg/50_ammo.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_casting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenz%27s_law
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbasees/tables/magprop.html
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductividad_el%C3%A9ctrica
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plomo
http://www.mastermagnets.com/product/eddy-current-separators/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_furnace
http://www.atlasfdry.com/inductionfurnaces.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_steel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trommel_screen
http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2012/04/04/three-different-types-of-magnetism/
http://www.livescience.com/53509-faradays-law-induction.html
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburo_de_wolframio
Infomine.com
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ANNEX I ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION AND
FARADAYS LAW
In 1830, Joseph Henry and Michel Faraday discovered that a variable magnetic field can induce an electric
current on a conductor even if this conductor is separated from the source of the magnetic field. But before that, in
1824, Oersted discovered that current passing through a coil generates a magnetic field that is capable of shifting a
compass needle. Thus, these scientists found two opposite effects, which are part of the one theory. Electromagnetic
induction is the process of generating electrical current in a conductor by placing the conductor in a changing magnetic
field. It is called induction because magnetic field induces the current in the conductor.
Faraday's Law of induction says that any change in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire will cause a
voltage (electromagnetic force, or EMF) to be induced in the coil. Faraday also noticed that the rate of change of
magnetic flux affects to the amount of induced voltage. Another read for the Faraday's Law for a straight conductor is
EMF of electromagnetic induction in the circuit is numerically equal and opposite to the rate of change of magnetic flux
d
through the surface bounded by this contour. The formula of Faradays Law for a straight wire is = , where is
dt
d
the EMF and is the rate of change of magnetic flux in webers/second.
dt
Induction reflects dependence on the rate of change of the magnetic field. It is measured in unit of Henries (H).
One Henry is the amount of inductance that is required to generate one volt of induced voltage when the current is
changing at the rate of one ampere per second.
When induction occurs in an electrical circuit and affects the flow of electricity it is called inductance. Self-
inductance (sometimes just inductance) is the property of a circuit whereby a change in current causes a change in
voltage in the same circuit. Mutual-inductance is the effect when one circuit induces current flow in a second nearby
circuit (image 1).
Lenz's Law
In 1834, Heinrich Lenz stated the principle for determining the direction of the induced current in a loop.
Moves the magnet through the coil wire induces the current in the wire. But it doesn't stop there. That current then
generates its own magnetic field. That secondary induced magnetic field opposes the initial field the field from move
a magnet. This is Lens's Law.
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Lenz's Law states that the magnetic field of induced current is oppose to the change in magnetic flux that
caused this current. This means, in practice, the eddy currents communicate with the test coil by developing secondary
flux that cancels a portion of the coil's flux equivalent to the magnitude and phase of the flux developed by the eddy
currents. Lenz's law is important in understanding the
property of inductive reactance, which is one of the properties
measured in eddy current testing.
The first person who really discovered eddy current
was the French physicist Lon Foucault (1819-1868). That is
why eddy currents also called Foucault current. In September,
1855, he discovered that the force required for the rotation of
a copper disc becomes greater when it is made to rotate with
its rim between the poles of a magnet, the disc at the same
time becoming heated by the eddy current induced in the
metal. One good illustration could be used to show, how eddy
current and Lenz's Law works in practice. It could be
illustrated by dropping a rare-earth or cow magnet through
tubes that have inside diameters slightly larger than the
magnet itself. The magnet will fall freely through a 90cm PVC
tube but will fall slowly through a copper or aluminum pipe of
the same length. You could see this explanation on the
Image 2: Permanent magnet falling through the copper pictures above (image 2). Permanent magnet has its own field
tube. (Primary Magnetic Field, Fig. 3). As the magnet falls, its field is
constantly changing position. When it passes through a given
. portion of the copper pipe, this portion of the tube experiences a changing magnetic field which induces the flow of
eddy currents in the conducting material (Fig. 4). They called so, because they circulate as eddies in water.
So eddy current induced by a changing magnetic field in the conductor. The electrons in a copper pipe are
moving. As they move these currents also create a magnetic
field around them (secondary magnetic field, image 3). Lenz's
Law states that the magnetic field created will oppose the
original magnetic field. These two fields will oppose each other
and that exerts a braking force on the falling magnet. It falls
slower! Since PVC is a non-conducting material, the magnet
accelerates to Earth as expected.
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