Coke cans?
This is meant as a serious "tech" question from an ancient engineer, but if a mod sees it needs moving, so be it.
Over the years, watching tired and ancient airframes being reduced to shreds (and yes, sometimes with a lump in one's throat):
What happens to the scrap?
- A lot of it is some variety of aluminium alloy, but it must be full of other "stuff", like fasteners, fuel lines, hydraulic lines, wiring, seals, plastic, etc.
- But, things like Coke cans and tooth paste tubes are extruded from nearly pure aluminium.
- AU2GN (RR58) as used on Concorde, and I suspect most modern aircraft construction alloys as well, are anything but pure aluminium.
So my question is...
Is a certain amount of alloy recoverable for re-use as base material for manufacturing aviation-grade alloy ingots, or is it all just melted down and separated, and only the aluminium as such is used (with maybe some of the other constituents skimmed off and re-used) ?
CJ