Patent ID: 7217312

Claim:
Method of recycling metallic coated scrap pieces of which the liqiuidus temperature of a coating layer is lower than the solidus temperature of a core layer, by at least partially removing the coating layer from the core layer of said scrap pieces making use of a heat resistant metallurgical vessel having an opening for introducing the scrap pieces into the vessel and an exit for discharging essentially molten alloy, the vessel being rotatable around an axis of rotation, the method comprising the sequential steps of: filling the vessel with a load of scrap pieces; supplying an amount of energy to the vessel such that essentially all the scrap pieces reach a temperature above the solidus temperature of the coating layer; rotating the vessel during and/or after the supplying of the amount of energy for forming essentially molten alloy; removing the essentially molten alloy, having the composition of the coating layer of the scrap pieces mixed with small amounts of the core layer, through the exit of the vessel; removing the remainder of the load from the vessel, wherein the remainder of the load is removed from the vessel by supplying a second amount of energy in the vessel to melt the remainder of the load to form a second essentially molten alloy, and removing the second essentially molten alloy having the composition of the core layer of the scrap pieces mixed with the remainder of the coating layer.