Ferrous metal can be defined as simply any form of ferrous metal which is considered waste. Nearly all ferrous metal can be recycled. Ferrous metal comes in many various forms. Some of the most common forms of ferrous metal are HMS1, HMS 2, HMS 1/2. HMS 80/20, used rails, pig iron, ship breaking, ship scrap.
Here are some details about these common forms of ferrous scrap.
HMS 1 No. 1 Steel ferrous metal consists of clean iron and steel with a minimum thickness of 1/4" and a maximum size of 60"x24" with material handling compatible to feed a furnace charge box. HMS 1 Ferrous metal is found all across the globe.
HMS 2 No. 2 Steel ferrous metal consists of clean iron and steel with a minimum thickness of 1/8" and a maximum size of 60"x24" with material handling compatible to feed a furnace charge box. HMS 2 Ferrous metal is found all across the globe.
HMS ½ steel, ferrous metal can be further limited in size by specifying length. As an example HMS1 (1 foot) limits the maximum size to 12"x12".
In steel production, ferrous metal metal is used for cooling the enormous quantity of heat produced by blowing oxygen on hot metal. Ferrous Metal differs in regard to the content of iron and of some tramp elements. Each melting bath unit of steel has its own material constraints for the amount of iron and tramp elements in order to guarantee the desired quality. HMS1 and HMS2 ferrous metal is usually the preferred scrap used in the production of steel.
The use of ferrous metal also reduces the total cost of producing steel. Steel mills use one of two types of furnaces to make new steel. The oldest type is called a basic oxygen furnace. It uses a minimum of 25% metal to make new flat-rolled steel products such as cans and automobiles. The other type is called the electric arc furnace. It uses virtually 100% of steel metal to make new products such as structural beams, rebar and plate steel.
