Abstract: A consolidator system for processing feed materials includes a reactor vessel having a sealed process chamber, a rotatable indexing table in the process chamber having a plurality separate melting hearths; a melting system in thermal communication with the melting hearths configured to melt a feed material in the melting hearths into a molten metal; a feeding system configured to feed the feed material into the melting hearths; and a collection system configured to collect consolidated metal pucks from the melting hearths. The consolidator system also includes a fluid cooling system in fluid communication with the melting hearths configured to cool the feed material into molten form into the consolidated metal pucks in solid form. The consolidator system also includes a sensing system and a control system configured to control the feeding system, the indexing table and the melting system using input from the sensing system.

Abstract: An adaptive flow regulation system for a tilting melting hearth atomization system includes: a load cell sensor configured to capture a weight of a molten metal within a tilting melting hearth during a pouring operation; a process camera configured to capture visual characteristics of the molten metal during the pouring operation; a particle size analyzer configured to analyze a metal powder following an atomization process to determine a particle size distribution of the metal particles; an actuator coupled to a linkage configured to support and move the tilting melting hearth to a desired hearth tilt angle; and a central processing unit (CPU) having a machine learning program configured to receive data from the load cell sensor, the process camera, and the particle size analyzer and to send a control signal to the actuator for controlling a pour rate from a melting cavity of the tilting melting hearth.

Abstract: A tilting melting hearth system (10) includes a tilting melting hearth (12) for melting a metal (14) into a molten metal (16) and a central processing unit (CPU) (18) for controlling the tilting melting hearth (12) having an automated hearth tilting program (20) configured to select a hearth tilt profile based on a weight (66A) of the molten metal (16) in the tilting melting hearth (12). The tilting melting hearth system (10) can also include an atomization die (38) in flow communication with the tilting melting hearth (12) for receiving a stream of molten metal (40) and generating a metal powder (42), or a casting die (46) for generating a casting (48) of the metal (14). The tilting melting hearth system (10) can be used to perform a method for recycling scrap metal by automatically determining the weight of the molten metal (16) in the tilting melting hearth (12).

Abstract: A tilting melting hearth system (10) includes a tilting melting hearth (12) for melting a metal (14) into a molten metal (16) and a central processing unit (CPU) (18) for controlling the tilting melting hearth (12) having an automated hearth tilting program (20) configured to select a hearth tilt profile based on a weight (66A) of the molten metal (16) in the tilting melting hearth (12). The tilting melting hearth system (10) can also include an atomization die (38) in flow communication with the tilting melting hearth (12) for receiving a stream of molten metal (40) and generating a metal powder (42), or a casting die (46) for generating a casting (48) of the metal (14). The tilting melting hearth system (10) can be used to perform a method for recycling scrap metal by automatically determining the weight of the molten metal (16) in the tilting melting hearth (12).