Mastermelt’s Matthew Davis highlights how recycling jet engines recovers valuable materials and promotes sustainability in aviation.
Jet engines are the crown jewels of aviation, embodying engineering excellence. A new single-aisle jet engine is valued at about $15 million, while a dual-aisle version is worth $20 million. Despite meticulous maintenance, their value declines with age and flight cycles, leading to relaxed maintenance protocols.
Even the most reliable engines eventually reach the end of their serviceable lives. Some are cannibalised for Life Limited Parts (LLPs) to keep older fleets flying in less affluent regions, while others become obsolete due to age, wear or technology. In rare cases, engines are declared Beyond Economical Repair (BER) due to incidents or safety concerns, and when an engine or its components can no longer be utilised, they are recycled.
Mastermelt America is the sole company globally with the capability to fully recycle a jet engine. Our process maximises the value of each component. We meticulously disassemble the engine into parts – nuts, bolts, blades, rotors, shafts and housings – and use advanced X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology to sort and segregate them by alloy.
A critical part of our process is recovering precious metals from components in the high and intermediate pressure turbine sections, which often contain platinum, platinum-aluminium, gold, silver or palladium coatings or brazing. Our proprietary technologies refine these to 99.9% purity, ensuring no value is lost. We also process remaining non-precious metals to vacuum quality, removing thermal barrier coatings, inserts, pads and pins, and preparing pure alloys for reprocessing.
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Mastermelt America works to ensure engines don’t languish in graveyards. Credit: photogoodwin/Adobe Stock
The importance of reintroducing this ‘revert’ into the aviation sector cannot be overstated. These superalloys, which contain 8-12 rare elements, are engineered to endure extreme conditions – temperatures up to 1,100°C and speeds of 18,000 RPM – while maintaining their structural integrity and performance.
Given the complexity of these superalloys and the rarity of their constituent elements, it would be environmentally irresponsible to rely solely on mining for new materials. In fact, recycled alloys constitute almost 25% of all metals used in aviation.
Engine materials are much easier to recycle compared to other aircraft components. This is why aircraft bodies often languish in graveyards, while jet engines rarely share the same fate.
At Mastermelt America, we are not just recycling jet engines, we are championing a future where absolute circularity in aviation is the norm. Our work ensures that valuable engine materials are recovered, refined and reintroduced into the aviation industry, reducing the need for new mining and preserving the planet’s resources.
In an industry where every component counts, our commitment to sustainability makes a world of difference.
This feature was first published in MRO Management – October 2024. To view the digital version of the magazine in full, click here.
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