The production of aluminium pressing bushes designed for the reliable sealing of pipe unions involves cutting operations that waste nearly 80% of the raw material. As a measure to maximise the yield of this valuable material, the pipe specialist Uponor has been running RUF briquetting systems in its production since 2005. According to WCO Local Coordinator Gerart Oppelt, this investment had paid off after just nine months.

With the introduction of a RUF briquetting press Keiels Formenbau GmbH have simplified their working processes substantially, as well as massively reducing their costs. The briquetting system can press 50 kg per hour of Aluminium chips, which are produced during milling, into solid briquettes. When compared to the sale of loose, wet chips the company has doubled its revenues through selling Aluminium briquettes. In real terms this is a return on investment in about a year.

One of RUF´s heavy duty briquetting systems is contributing enormously to efficient work processes at SWG Metallverarbeitung und Montagetechnik GmbH. The press reduces the volume of chips to almost a tenth of the original volume as well as recovering valuable cooling lubricant and is not knocked out of its stride by even the coarsest particles which can be found between the chips. In the meantime almost one million aluminium briquettes have been pressed by the RUF press at SWG.

By pressing loose chips of stainless steel into briquettes, EZ Zerspanung GmbH was able to lower its costs for cutting oils significantly and reduce environmental impact. Through the process of briquetting the turning parts expert can retrieve about 80 percent of the cutting oil adhering to the chips. This saving is the main reason why the RUF-briquetting press amortised itself within less than three years.

Zollner AG compresses more than 100 tons of aluminium chips per year using a RUF briquetting press. The mechatronics service provider thereby reduces the volume of this recyclable material to a fraction and isolates clinging oils and emulsions. By recovering cooling lubricant and thanks to increased prices for aluminium briquettes, the press has amortized itself within a very short time.

Metal Trade Comax operates an aluminium melting plant for recycling aluminium scrap to produce various aluminium cast alloys. The basis for this is defined aluminium scrap. A large share of that is delivered to the Refiner as loose chips. Before these are loaded into the furnace, they are processed and then pressed into briquettes with automated RUF briquetting systems. The briquetting of the chips, in particular, ensures optimised metal yields and therewith a markedly increased profitability.

Should you just send the metal swarf created during manufacturing to the scrap dealer or should you increase its value by selling it for profit? The GLEICH group discovered the answer to this around ten years ago. Since then, the family-run business has been turning its aluminium swarf into briquettes. These are easy to transport and can be very efficiently melted down. This has proven to be such a cost-effective solution that GLEICH, the specialists in high-quality aluminium cast plates, has over the years commissioned six briquetting machines supplied by RUF, and every year they compress on average 3,800 tonnes of swarf.

Aluminium's recycling cycle begins and ends in melting plants. In between, this light metal is machined in many different industrial operations of diverse branches and ideally is then pressed into a compact briquette using a briquetting system from RUF. But where exactly are chips produced and why does briquetting usually make economic sense?

Briquetting presses maximise the cost effectiveness of metal chip utilisation. Compressed to conveniently sized briquettes and practically free of adhering lubricant, this production residue can be easily stored, transported, and melted down – and also sells very well. Georg Fischer Automobilguss has been running a RUF press of this kind, and profitably since day one. How this is possible will be demonstrated by RUF GmbH on its briquetting presses at the International Foundry Trade Fair GIFA 2011 in Düsseldorf.