How to Sort Nickel-Based Alloys from Stainless Steel Scrap
There's a category of material flowing through scrap yards every day that most operators are selling at a fraction of its actual value.
It doesn't announce itself. It often gets sorted into the stainless pile because it passes the magnet test and looks like stainless steel.
It isn't stainless steel. It's nickel superalloy, and the price difference is not small.
Nickel-based superalloys like Inconel 625, Inconel 718, Hastelloy C-276, and Monel 400 are engineered for extreme environments. High temperature, high pressure, and highly corrosive service conditions in aerospace, oil and gas, power generation, and chemical processing.
The raw material cost of these alloys in new form runs from tens to hundreds of dollars per pound. The scrap value reflects that.
Processed as commodity stainless steel, Inconel 625 might bring $2 to $4 per pound. Identified correctly and sold to a specialty metals buyer who actually wants it, the same material can bring $10 to $20 per pound or more depending on the market.
The spread is enormous. The only thing standing between you and that spread is knowing what you have.
Handheld XRF analyzers identify nickel superalloys in seconds. High nickel content, molybdenum, chromium, niobium. The elemental signature of Inconel, Hastelloy, and similar alloys is unmistakable to XRF and completely invisible to visual inspection or a magnet test.
These alloys come into scrap yards in the form of pipe fittings, turbine components, heat exchanger parts, valves, and industrial equipment.
They all look like heavy stainless. They're not.
One correctly identified piece of Inconel in a mixed lot can be worth more than the entire remainder of the load. XRF finds it before it disappears into the stainless pile at stainless prices.
Stop selling alloys at the wrong prices.
Shop scrap metal XRF analyzers at Alloy Geek
More Scrap Metal Recycling Resources
There are a lot of ways to save money and time with XRF analysis, especially in the scrap metal and recycling industry. Learn more about the uses and benefits of XRF analysis for your business from an XRF professional.