The Importance of Recycling Carbide Sludge

Tungsten carbide sludge, also known as tungsten swarf, is produced during the manufacturing of tungsten carbide products. Tungsten carbide is a rare metal that is scratch resistant, extremely durable, and has the highest melting point of all the metals. Swarf is defined to be the collective form of shavings of metals or other materials that result from machining new products.

Carbide sludge is predominantly produced during the sharpening, drilling, and shaping of tungsten carbide products. This sludge possesses a high concentration of tungsten carbide metals. These metals are what scrap recyclers want to obtain. Since it is not considered a hazardous waste, metal scrap buyers purchase the sludge and process it to recycle their own tungsten carbide material.

At Alnor Industries, we understand the importance of recycling carbide sludge and regulating the world’s supply of tungsten!

Unique Qualities of Tungsten Carbide

Tungsten carbide is twice as hard and very dense when compared to steel, and it can be available in many different grades. The products produced with our recycled tungsten carbide metal vary in strength because of the quality of the carbide sludge contents. Additionally, any carbide scrap can be recycled and reused for various applications and this is why the demand for carbide sludge remains to be high.

Normally, carbide scraps contain a coolant and oil so that the sludge could be thick and viscous, similar to quicksand. However, this is not a problem for recyclers because we can dry the material, run it through various processes, and produce the tungsten carbide at the same time.

Carbide Sludge Disposal?

As mentioned earlier, carbide sludge is thick and heavy because of a chemical mixture. This mixture creates the sludge that is placed into barrels with proper labels in order to be picked up by waste recycling companies. The recyclers dry the sludge in these containers and will break the sludge apart after.

During this recycling process, almost nothing will go to waste and manufacturing industries will have safe and proper means of disposing their sludge. At Alnor Industries, we are a quick phone call away from picking up your carbide sludge. Call or email us to learn more about our recycling services.