What Systems Are Suitable for Aerospace Alloys and Titanium Chips?

Published September 4, 2026. Last updated September 4, 2026.

Why Titanium and Aerospace Alloys Need a Different Approach

Titanium, Inconel, and other alloys common in aerospace machining behave differently than steel or aluminum scrap on the shop floor. Titanium chips, in particular, pose a recognized fire hazard: fine, dry titanium turnings and fines can ignite under friction or heat, which is why titanium chips are typically kept wet with coolant until they reach controlled processing, rather than being allowed to dry and accumulate loosely.

At the same time, these alloys are expensive raw materials, so the scrap they generate carries real recoverable value, provided it’s handled in a way that keeps it clean, uncontaminated, and in a form scrap buyers will pay a premium for.

The Role of Wringing and Coolant Recovery

Because titanium and other exotic alloys are typically machined with heavy coolant flow, a centrifugal chip wringer plays two roles at once: it separates and recovers coolant for return to a coolant recycling system, and it helps manage the transition of the chip from wet to a form that can be safely and predictably handled downstream.

Keeping this step mechanical and controlled, rather than letting chips sit and dry unmanaged in bins, reduces both fire risk and fluid loss in a single process.

Shredding for Consistency and Value

Aerospace turnings, especially from titanium and nickel alloys, tend to be long, curled, and tangled, difficult to handle and inconsistent in size. Running these chips through a metal turnings shredder reduces them to a uniform, denser particle size, which matters for two reasons: it makes the material far easier and safer to convey, store, and load, and it produces a more consistent product that scrap buyers can grade and price with more confidence than loose, mixed-length turnings.

Briquetting High-Value Alloys

Because aerospace alloy scrap has a meaningful per-pound value, compacting it matters more than it does for lower-value ferrous scrap. A metal chip briquetter compresses dry, shredded chips into dense pucks, cutting storage footprint and freight costs, but for high-value alloys, the bigger benefit is often on the sales side.

Dense, consistent briquettes are easier for a mill or scrap buyer to grade, process, and price accurately, which can translate directly into a better return on material that already represents a significant input cost for aerospace parts.

Housekeeping and Compliance Considerations

Beyond the equipment itself, how titanium and exotic alloy chips are stored and staged matters for both safety and regulatory compliance. Fire codes and insurance requirements in many facilities specifically address dry titanium fines and turnings, often requiring that they be kept wet, stored in designated containers, or processed promptly rather than allowed to accumulate loose on the shop floor.

Building chip processing into a continuous line, wringing directly into shredding and briquetting, reduces the window during which loose, drying titanium material sits unmanaged, which is often a more reliable way to stay ahead of these requirements than relying on manual housekeeping procedures alone.

Segregation and Contamination Control

Aerospace supply chains often require strict material segregation, keeping titanium, nickel alloys, and other exotic materials separate from steel and aluminum scrap streams, both to preserve alloy value and to meet traceability requirements from mills and customers. Chip processing equipment and the layout around it need to support that segregation in practice, not just on paper, with dedicated collection, wringing, and processing paths for each alloy family rather than a single shared line that risks cross-contamination.

Cross-contaminated alloy scrap typically loses most of its premium value, since a mill can no longer verify its composition with confidence, making segregation as much a financial consideration as a compliance one.

Proof in Aerospace-Grade Operations

PRAB’s chip processing equipment is used in aerospace-grade manufacturing environments, including at Koss Aerospace and Martin-Baker, where alloy handling, fire risk, and scrap value carry more weight than in general machining. Working with shops in that environment has shaped how PRAB configures wringing, shredding, and briquetting equipment for exotic alloys, specifically prioritizing controlled fluid handling and consistent, sellable output over a one-size-fits-all approach to chip processing.

What to Evaluate Before Selecting Equipment

Shops handling titanium or other aerospace alloys should evaluate chip processing equipment specifically for the alloy and chip form they’re producing, since fire risk, fluid retention, and material value all vary by alloy. That means confirming the wringer, shredder, and briquetter are sized and configured for the actual chip volume and geometry from these specific alloys, not just general-purpose scrap, and verifying coolant compatibility, since aerospace machining fluids can differ from those used elsewhere in a shop.

Because most PRAB equipment can’t be functionally tested at full scale with a customer’s own material before shipment, Materials Testing and Demo Before You Buy programs give shops a way to confirm performance on actual titanium or alloy chips before committing, rather than relying on assumptions carried over from a shop’s experience with steel or aluminum.

For shops running titanium or other exotic alloys, it’s worth a direct conversation about the specific chip form, alloy mix, and coolant type coming off the machines before selecting equipment, since a configuration that performs well on one alloy can perform very differently on another.