A sand reclamation unit for a green-sand or chemically bonded foundry line typically processes 1-150 t/h of used return sand, with mechanical-attrition designs from suppliers such as JÖST and Eurotek's TROJAN family proving out the 1-20 t/h band for shake-out-to-cooler duty [S3][S4][S6].
Three process families dominate the 2026 buying shortlist: mechanical-attrition (vibratory mills, fluidized-bed scrubbers, rotary drums), pneumatic scrubbers, and thermal fluidized-bed reactors [S6]. The selection is driven by the spent-sand binder chemistry, the throughput band, and a cost-per-tonne ceiling that separates mechanical from thermal economics [S2][S5].
Process Family Comparison: Mechanical, Pneumatic, Thermal
Spent green sand leaves the shakeout at 4-8% moisture and 5-12% loss-on-ignition (LOI); spent no-bake chemically bonded sand leaves at 0.5-2% moisture with 1.5-3.5% residual resin on the grain, which is the number that drives whether thermal reclamation at 700-820 °C is required or whether a lower-temperature mechanical scrubber at 300-450 °C suffices [S2].
A typical mechanical reclamation line sequences shakeout deck, attrition mill, elevating device, surge hopper, magnetic separator, agglomerate screener, fluid bed classifier (cooling optional), elevating or pneumatic transport, bulk storage silo, and dust collector; a thermal line adds a gas-fired or electric fluidized-bed reactor and quench cooler with 20-60 minute residence time on top of the mechanical stage [S1][S5]. Thermal reclamation carries the highest energy bill because of burner fuel: 280-520 kWh per tonne of dried recovered sand, which is the single largest operating cost on the line [S2].
Throughput Bands and Footprint
Reclamation throughput is rated in t/h of dry feed sand, and the 2026 OEM catalog splits cleanly into three bands. Compact low-loader units in the TROJAN COMPACT and FMS Compact class cover 1-3 t/h with deck loads of 500-1000 kg, hand or gravity-track loading, and no pit work required [S3][S4]. Mid-range vertical-discharge (TROJAN VD) and elevated-discharge (TROJAN ED) attrition units cover 5-20 t/h with deck loadings of 1000-6000 kg and optional hydraulic auto clean-out doors [S3][S4].
A 5 t/h mechanical attrition unit typically draws 90-130 kW and occupies 35-55 m² of floor space including bucket elevator, dust cyclone, and bag filter; a 5 t/h thermal fluidized-bed line draws 1.4-2.6 MW of thermal input plus 250-400 kW electrical, and occupies 90-140 m² with a 6-10 m stack on the afterburner [S2]. Thermal units in the Eurotek Hot Pot class are offered in four models covering 250-2400 kg/h with PLC-controlled 24-hour/day operation, screw feeders with variable-speed drive, nozzle-mix burners, fluidizing fans, and high-temperature filter exhaust [S3].
Cost-per-Tonne Levers and Operating Economics
Cost-per-tonne of recovered sand on a mechanical reclamation line runs $4-$9/t for energy and wear parts on a green-sand system, and $18-$34/t on a thermal line for phenolic-urethane no-bake systems at 2025 natural-gas prices [S2]. Quote energy per tonne reclaimed, not just installed power, because the operating cost gap between mechanical and thermal is roughly 3-4x at the same throughput.
Wear-part consumption and dust extraction are the two largest hidden cost drivers. The fettling-grinder reference band sits at 60-180 g of abrasive wheel per kg of metal cut, but the equivalent reclamation-side wear parts are bucket-elevator buckets, classifier screens, and attrition-mill liners; under-aggressive scrubbing rounds grains and raises fines, shifting grain fineness number off target, so a unit's grain-preservation behaviour must be checked against the AFS 40-55 reuse spec [S2][S8]. Dust extraction rate is sized to the volume and capture efficiency of the dust collector, because undersized extraction leaves fines in the loop and contaminates the recovered sand [S8].
Foundries That Need a Reclamation Unit vs Those That Do Not
Specify a sand reclamation unit when any two of the following hold: spent-sand disposal cost exceeds $15/t at the local landfill gate, virgin silica or synthetic sand acquisition is more than 10x the disposal alternative, and daily return-sand volume exceeds 5 t/day from a single shakeout [S2][S5]. The strong candidates are no-bake and shell foundries running phenolic-urethane or furan binders with 1.5-3.5% residual resin, where thermal reclamation is the only path to clean grain; green-sand foundries with bentonite-bonded systems can stay on mechanical-attrition alone because LOI is manageable at 300-450 °C scrubbing temperatures [S2][S7].
Specifiers looking for hardware-manufacturing context, where resin sand casting delivers high-precision components with excellent surface finish and generates large volumes of used sand, will find the resin-sand reclamation line is the most defensible 2026 capital project for those operations [S7]. Foundries under 5 t/day typically send loaded dust to landfill and accept the binder cost instead; that is a cost-per-tonne call, not a process-equivalence call, and a sand reclamation unit is rarely justified below that floor. Candidates considering the JÖST pre-reclaiming attrition unit for chemically bonded molding and core sand preparation should evaluate it as the upstream crush stage ahead of a main reclamation line, not as a stand-alone system [S9].
Selection Criteria: When You Need Which
The decision tree follows the binder, not the throughput alone. Green-sand lines and chemically bonded cold-box lines at 1-10 t/h are well served by mechanical-attrition units in the TROJAN ED and JÖST pre-reclaiming class, with target AFS fineness number 40-55, 90-130 kW installed power, and $4-$9/t operating cost; no-bake phenolic-urethane lines at 5-20 t/h need the thermal fluidized-bed addition with 1.4-2.6 MW thermal input, 280-520 kWh/t, and PLC-controlled 24-hour operation [S2][S3][S9]. Resin-sand operations are the strongest 2026 case for a dedicated resin sand reclamation line sized to the casting-cleaning station, the shakeout, and the muller return in one closed loop [S7].
Quoting a reclamation line on installed kW alone is the most common 2026 buying error. Buyers should benchmark three numbers from the OEM data sheet: throughput in t/h of dry feed, total connected load in kW (mechanical) or kW + MW thermal (thermal), and dust-extraction airflow in m³/h per station, then cross-check against the 2000-6000 m³/h LEV design range that keeps operator exposure below 10 mg/m³ of total inhalable dust [S2]. A broader view of FRP composite selection for construction: resin, fibre, process and spec gates shows the same gate-driven methodology, and a parallel review of Casting mold selection for rail components: iron grades, process match, and 2026 spec helps foundries link reclamation capacity back to the upstream molding decision. The deepest related spec cut, Sand Reclamation Unit Spec Map for Pump and Valve Foundries, walks the same gates for iron and steel casting operations that share this equipment class.
Standards, Sourcing and Failure Modes to Track
Respirable silica exposure limits are the dominant 2026 regulatory gate for any reclamation retrofit, because shakeout and attrition stages are the highest-emission nodes on the line and synthetic-sand substitution raises the operating cost by 10x or more versus standard silica sand, which makes reclamation payback shorter under tighter exposure rules [S5]. Two specific data points to verify with the OEM before PO: the AFS fineness-number distribution at the classifier discharge, and the LOI reading on the recovered sand after the thermal reactor, because the LOI target sets the burner fuel rate and the $18-$34/t thermal cost band [S2][S5].
Under-aggressive scrubbing is a silent failure mode: rounded grains raise the fines fraction, shift AFS fineness off target, and force the muller to add more bentonite to compensate; over-aggressive scrubbing is the opposite, blowing grain surface and shortening mold life. The 2026 buying shortlist should track one signal per quarter: published thermal-reclamation kWh/t at 2025-2026 natural-gas prices, and the share of new no-bake foundry builds in the OEM order book that include a thermal stage from day one rather than retrofitting after a mechanical ramp-up period [S5][S6].
For the relevant spec sheets and selection criteria, see additive manufacturing material, and architectural hardware.