US 11,705,222 B1
Method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from recycling aluminum alloy wheels
Daniel Bitton, Toronto (CA)
Assigned to House of Metals Company Limited, Toronto (CA)
Filed by House of Metals Company Limited, Toronto (CA)
Filed on Jan. 25, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/101,177.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/329,663, filed on Apr. 11, 2022.
Int. Cl. B24C 1/10 (2006.01); G16C 20/10 (2019.01); G06Q 10/30 (2023.01); G06Q 30/018 (2023.01)
CPC G16C 20/10 (2019.02) [B24C 1/10 (2013.01); G06Q 10/30 (2013.01); G06Q 30/018 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of recycling aluminum alloy wheels, the method comprising:
providing a feed of aluminum alloy wheels of a particular alloy;
fragmenting the aluminum alloy wheels into a plurality of fragments;
shot blasting the plurality of fragments to at least partly remove at least one contaminant material, each contaminant material of the at least one contaminant material i) comprising at least one of paint, plastic or rubber, ii) containing carbon, and iii) being combustible;
storing in a computer readable non-transient memory, at least one recognition criterion and at least one carbon factor, wherein
for each contaminant material of the at least one contaminant material, the at least one recognition criterion comprises a recognition criterion for that contaminant material, and
for each contaminant material of the at least one contaminant material, the at least one carbon factor comprises a carbon factor for that contaminant material, the carbon factor indicating a proportion of carbon in that contaminant material such that combustion of a quantity of that contaminant material would produce a corresponding quantity of carbon emissions calculable using the carbon factor;
for each fragment of a representative sample of fragments of the plurality of fragments,
for each contaminant material of the at least one contaminant material, using the recognition criterion for that contaminant material to determine a contaminant material concentration estimate for that fragment;
operating a data processor to either approve or reject the plurality of fragments, based on an aggregate carbon emission calculation for the plurality of fragments, the aggregate carbon emission calculation being based on, for each contaminant material of the at least one contaminant material, and for each fragment of the representative sample of fragments, the contaminant material concentration estimate and the carbon factor for that contaminant material;
when the plurality of fragments is approved, providing the plurality of fragments to a downstream recycling process to produce a target aluminum alloy; and
when the plurality of fragments is rejected, further shot blasting the plurality of fragments to further remove the at least one contaminant material.