Ⅰ. Introduction
1. What is armoured cable?
Armoured cables also called armored cables, are usually composed of one or more copper conductors, insulation layers, metal reinforcement layers, and other parts. This type of cable can be buried directly underground and is widely used in chemical, metallurgical, power generation, and other fields. It has a metal reinforcement layer that ordinary cables do not have, common metal reinforcement layers include steel belts and steel wires. The sturdy structure greatly enhances the durability and protection of armored cables, its armor layer can isolate the cable from most environmental influences and effectively prevent the cable from being damaged by the external environment.
However, after the armored cable is discarded, this solid metal reinforcement layer makes its recycling more difficult and complicated: the common recycling tools on the market cannot cut or crush its hard armor layer. Recycling armored cables places higher demands on recycling machines. You need professional equipment specially designed for high-hardness cables to help you improve production efficiency and save time and effort.
2. Is armored cable worth recycling?
Armored cables are undoubtedly a very worthwhile material to recycle. As we all know, recycling cables with a higher copper content will obtain more copper and higher profits. Generally, the copper content of armored cables is higher than most cable types, ranging from 40% to 60% (the actual copper content depends on the specific cable model). This means that for every 1,000 kg of armored cables recycled, you can get 400 to 600 kg of pure copper. In addition, since the cables are protected by a hard outer skin, the inner copper wires are usually in good condition even after being discarded, ensuring the high quality of the recycled copper, and resulting in a great high sales price.
Ⅱ. 2 ways to efficiently recycle armoured cable
Traditional recycling methods are difficult to work with armored cables. Currently, there are two main ways to process armored cables on the market: wire stripper machine and big cable shredder system.
1. Wire stripper machine
Since the wire stripper machine can recover the whole copper wire, it has become the first tool choice for most recyclers to recycle armored cables. The high-quality copper wire processed by the wire stripper is generally more profitable than copper granules. However, not all wire stripper machines can handle armored cables, standard wire strippers lack the power and precision required to recycle armored cables. To effectively cut the heavy protective layer of armored cables, you need a stripper machine with sharper and higher hardness blades and a higher power.
If you do not need to process thin wires less than 30mm in diameter and your cables are not very large in quantity, we recommend you choose a high-quality heavy-duty wire stripper machine.
⭐ Working Principle
- When the cable enters the machine from the feed port, the high-speed rotating blades will cut its insulation layer and send the processed cable out of the machine from the outlet.
2. Big cable shredder system
The cable shredder machine efficiently shreds waste cables into 3 to 5mm mixed particles of copper and plastic. This machine is capable of processing large volumes of waste cables, significantly enhancing the production efficiency of recyclers. However, small to medium-sized cable shredder machines are insufficient for shredding armored cables. If you want a cable shredder machine to help you recycle armored cables, improve production efficiency, and achieve full automation, then a big cable shredder system is also a good choice. The big cable shredder system has a more efficient power system and stronger crushing capacity, which supports its ability to crush the hard skin of armored cables. In addition to armored cables, it can also process a wide range of scrap cables with a diameter of less than 30mm, making it suitable for recyclers who need to process large quantities of scrap cables.
⭐ Working Principle
- It uses advanced physical separation methods, utilizing wind and gravity, to extract clean, pure copper particles from the mixture.
Ⅲ. 7 machines from BSGH Granulator to help you recycling armored cables
BSGH Granulator is a Chinese manufacturer specializing in cable recycling machines. Our machines can process various types and sizes of waste cables. For armored cables, we mainly have 7 different machines that can process them well.
1. BS-200 cable stripping machine
BS-200 cable stripping machine is specially designed for stripping large waste cables. Its most significant feature is the large diameter, which can handle diameters ranging from 60mm to 200mm, and is suitable for thick cables such as armored cables, submarine cables, and high-voltage cables.
This machine is equipped with a handle cranking adjustment handle, through which you can easily adjust the distance between the blades to achieve the recycling of waste cables of different sizes. Moreover, the double-blade structure adopted by this machine is original to our company; the electric motor is have reduction gearbox.
2. BS-AC80 wire peeling machine
As a very cost-effective model, the BS-AC80 has both powerful wire stripping functions and competitive price. BS-AC80 wire peeling machine has 15 feeding holes, including 12 round holes of different sizes, 2 flat holes and 1 press hole. It is also equipped with 23 blades, suitable for various waste cables with a diameter range of 1~72mm.
3. BS-AC120 electric wire stripping machine
The processing diameter range of BS-AC120 electric wire stripping machine is 10~120mm. It adopts the most advanced technology in China, which is more labor-saving and efficient than 95% of the wire stripping machines on the market. BS-AC120 electric wire stripping machine adopts a single-hole design, and you can use the adjustment handle to adjust the spacing between the blades to the size of your cable diameter. It is simple and convenient to operate, and is an ideal equipment for recycling large waste cables.
4. BS-AN120 cable stripping machine
BS-AN120 is a model with excellent performance that combines high efficiency and high durability. It can handle cables from 15 to 120 mm. The sharp and hard blades support it to quickly break through the hard metal protective layer of armored cables, helping you improve recycling efficiency. The sturdy structure enables it to maintain stable performance during long-term operation, making the BS-AN120 cable stripping machine more durable and its service life far exceeds 99% of similar machines on the market.
5. BS-AN125 heavy duty wire stripping machine
BS-AN125 has two parts, the left part and the right part. The left part consists of a square pressing hole and 5 circular cutting holes, which is used to process 1.5~35mm waste cables. The right part adopts a large double blade structure and is equipped with an adjustable handle that can freely adjust the size, the processing diameter range is 10~120mm. BS-AN125 heavy duty wire stripping machine has a compact structure and a small footprint, which helps you save space. The double blade structure it adopts has a better stripping effect than traditional single blade structure machines.
6. BS-AN160 wire stripper machine
Both the left and right parts of the BS-AN160 wire stripper machine adopt a double-blade structure and are made of hard and wear-resistant high-quality materials, ensuring the high durability of this model. The left blade is slightly smaller, with a processing range of 10~40mm, while the right blade is larger, with a processing range of 20~160mm. The BS-AN160 has high power and can quickly and easily strip the entire copper wire from the armored cable. It has a reasonable price and is highly praised by customers all over the world.
7. ACSR wire chopper recycling machine
The biggest problem with ordinary cable shredders when processing armored cables is that they cannot achieve the ideal shredding effect. Therefore, we have specially designed the ACSR cable chopper machine, which has a large shearing force and can quickly reduce the size of various cables with a diameter of less than 150mm. The armored cables will be processed into 5~20cm long strips, and then you can put them into any of the BSGH Grnulator’s cable shredders for further recycling. In this way, even if the amount of your waste cables does not meet the processing capacity of the big cable shredder system, you can also use the cable shredder to improve efficiency and save labor costs.
Ⅳ. Conclusion
AFTER ANALYSIS, we found that armored cables have a high copper content and the internal copper wire is usually well preserved, so they have a high recycling value. However, due to its hard metal protective layer, recycling armored cables is more difficult and complicated than ordinary cables. You need a machine with sharper blades, higher durability and greater power to recycle them well. BSGH Granulator has 7 machines that can efficiently recycle armored cables, including 6 wire stripping machines and 1 cable shredder machine, you can choose any one according to your needs.
