This is a good example where Steel and other materials are salvaged as in a ocean Oil rig in Norway. The will to reuse material is noteworthy.

Trueturning said:

Hello everyone. I noticed this article where for a decommissioned off shore oil rig is being torn down no the steel and other materials are being salvaged. It is impressive the commitment behind this kind of effort. I believe the U.S. has at times focused on repurposing steel (really good steel) especially during WW2 when old steel was collected and used for the war effort. Just something which effects manufacturing and through steel production being less as this steel is reused. I thought interesting connections can be made US and Europe and given current trends it can be enlightening. They are committed to doing this with determination all disagreements aside of course. It is interesting to hear views from our European members and American (USA) members. Best regards.

In Norway, Old Oil Platforms Are Taken Apart For Recycling - Forbes India

At an industrial yard in southwestern Norway, decommissioned oil platforms are slowly being dismantled for a second life in the circular economy

www.forbesindia.com

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standardparts said:

Not too many scrapping opportunities the size of those oil rigs but I'd bet if you left it with a 'free for taking' sign in many areas of the U.S. it would get hauled off piece by piece in short order. Believe I read where almost 70% of steel in the U.S. is re-cycled. The two yards near me have a steady stream of scrappers all day long.

Am sure those oil rigs were pretty costly to deal with considering recovery, handling, and environmental considerations so scrap value must be very high for that material.

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triumph406 said:

Not any more, I can leave barrels of scrap clean aluminum outside the shop these days and the tweakers do not take them. There was a time a few years ago if it wasn't bolted down it was gone overnight.

Either the price of scrap doesn't make it worthwhile for the tweakers to bother, or their in jail, or they've found another income source.

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Bill D said:

I bet many would prefer the rigs stay in the ocean as habitat for sea life.
Dalmatian Girl I thought much of Nevada still had old scrap abandoned in the middle of nowhere too expensive to haul to the scrap yards on the coast?
Bill D

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triumph406 said:

Not any more, I can leave barrels of scrap clean aluminum outside the shop these days and the tweakers do not take them. There was a time a few years ago if it wasn't bolted down it was gone overnight.

Either the price of scrap doesn't make it worthwhile for the tweakers to bother, or their in jail, or they've found another income source.

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standardparts said:

Maybe the social services safety net is better, or dope, lawyers, and bail is cheaper in Cali.

On the drive in to the shop still seeing the scrappers with truck, or on bicycle (same guy almost every day) or grocery cart loaded and headed to get cashed out.

Might make an interesting study about regarding drug use and scrapping. Used to supervise some people doing expense paid multi-year vacations who took scrapping to extreme levels to fund their lifestyles.

And...Notice one of the tenants in the building ordered a scrap container and tumbled some machine tools ino it.....scrap price wise...a day late and gonna be a few dollars short.

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triumph406 said:

Nope, scrap prices just don't seem to make it worthwhile. They've all graduated to catylictic converters around here

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Catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed in recent years, due to the high cost of the precious metals in them. Find out if your vehicle is among the most targeted by thieves, what a new catalytic converter costs, and how to help prevent yours from being stolen.

www.autolist.com

Trueturning said:

Old scrap does depend on some kind of definition sure. Not a big problem. During the 2nd World war there was a lot of scrap gathered and there was rationing of gasoline too.

DG has a good point as she mentioned that they (the oil rigs) make good cover for fish like a reef only the steel rigs are artificial/man-made. Sunken ships also serve well As artificial reefs.

The steel can be used to make wind mills or new rigs. Too the machines which cut the steel apart for recycling seem to be unique to the task yet I did not find much detail about them or any videos or pictures of them.

On edit I found this video which may shed light on the cutting and decommission process.

Video of Norway breaking them down. They use specialized machines to cut it up.

Very informative article about the feasibility and good business sense found in recycling various things like even Aluminum. It actually pays off big in that less carbon is produced doing this. It actually has a high ROI.


https://www.nationalmaterial.com/steel-and-recycling-fun-facts/
”https://www.nationalmaterial.com/steel-and-recycling-fun-facts/;

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adammil1 said:

We got some really cool machines here too to handle scraping! Years back I was at a power plant I believe in Pennsylvania that was replacing a baghouse with a scrubber. They brought in one of these machines with a shear attachment and were just munching off chunks of steel 80-90ft in the air as they fell to the ground to be picked up from time to time and carted off to the scrap yards. https://www.sennebogen.com/en/products/demolition-machine/sennebogen-870-demolition

It was a lot of fun to watch. Elsewhere on the same job site a monster Liebherr hydraulic crane brand new with shipping tags still on it in places was effortlessly and almost silently hosting massive superheater platens probably at least 10 stories up and into the top of the boiler house. Pretty awesome machinery out there!

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