From the moment when rubber was first bonded to metal, a problem was born. When the need arises, how does one get the rubber back off? From rejected products to worn out parts in the field, a true dilemma is formed for the multitudes in the rubber-affiliated industries.
The problem begins when a machined piece of steel is bonded with rubber to form a part that will undergo extreme pressure and use. When the rubber wears out it renders a highly valuable and usable metal insert useless until the rubber can be safely removed and new rubber reapplied. Such high value parts can be found in many industries including railroad, mining, automotive, marine, heavy equipment and military.
The problem has been so perplexing over the years and the solution so scarce that some companies have even resorted to having employees take parts and burn them in a field at night. This practice does not occur much anymore, due to stringent EPA laws fines and damage to the metal. With the ever increasing environmental considerations and cost of these machined metal parts, the problem of reclaiming is bigger now than ever.
These days, companies have turned to legal burn-off ovens, water jets and liquid nitrogen baths to get rid of the rubber. Burn-off ovens, however, can bring the metal to very high temperatures that often affect the temper of the steel; not to mention the environmental concerns with the associated smoke and ash. It is also slow, as well as costly, to burn these parts.
Liquid nitrogen can be very expensive and potentially dangerous, as employees are subjected to the sub-zero substance. Then you have the rubber to deal with for disposal. This method is also labor-intensive, time-consuming and often results in fractured and unusable metal.
Another method of modern reclaim is the use of water jet systems. This is probably the least efficient of the solutions because of its extremely slow approach and because of the substantial amount of rubber fragments left on the part after the jets have cut off the majority of the rubber. A watery, rubber sludge (sometimes mixed with oil residue) is produced from this process that must then be dealt with and disposed of. Because of the high pressures associated with the procedure, maintenance and upkeep can be a problem with the equipment also.
Finally, a breakthrough has been made in dealing with this monster of a problem. Our technology attacks the bond, not the rubber. The bond is gently broken in a matter of seconds or minutes, compared to the hours that other methods take, and it is done at a fraction of the cost. When a part is reclaimed with this process, the rubber is left in its whole state, leaving no fragments, and the metal is completely unaltered. Preparing the metal for relining is usually as simple as a gentle sand blast