Global sensor-based sorting technology provider TOMRA Recycling has enhanced its advanced metals recycling portfolio with an innovative AI-powered solution designed to upgrade wrought aluminium scrap. This marks the debut of GAINnext, Tomra's deep learning-based sorting technology, in the metals industry.
Source: TOMRA
With this AI innovation, aluminium scrap processors and recyclers can efficiently upgrade wrought aluminium scrap, achieving high-purity fractions by swiftly extracting low alloy cast from the wrought fraction and minimising alloying elements like silicon. GAINnext works alongside Tomra's X-Tract, which specialises in separation based on atomic density.
X-Tract first processes shredded mixed non-ferrous metals (Zorba) to generate high-purity aluminium scrap (Twitch). It then eliminates high-alloy aluminium cast and high-density wrought aluminium to further purify the Twitch. The result is a premium fraction consisting mainly of wrought aluminium with trace amounts of low alloy cast — a level of separation that other existing sorting methods cannot achieve.
By incorporating GAINnext into the sorting process after X-Tract, a pure wrought aluminium fraction can now be achieved. GAINnext utilises deep learning and artificial neural networks, employing RGB cameras to analyse tens to hundreds of thousands of images per millisecond. It "perceives" and "classifies" materials based on shape, size, and dimension, mimicking human vision but with far greater speed.
This advanced system enables high-throughput sorting, achieving up to 2,000 ejections per minute. In its debut application in the metals industry, GAINnext enhances the purity of the wrought fraction produced by Tomra's X-Tract by detecting and removing low alloy cast. The result is an ultra-pure wrought aluminium product that commands premium market prices.
Tomra customers aiming for even greater precision in aluminium sorting can further refine the wrought fraction recovered by GAINnext using Tomra's Autosort Pulse system. This advanced technology utilises dynamic laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (Dynamic LIBS) to accurately identify and sort various alloy types with exceptional precision.
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