EVERWHING You NEVER KNEW ABOUT MAGNETIC SEPARAT

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Recovery ferrous metalsfrom refuse of means money. Here's a look at bow it can be done.

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evenue from municipal solid waste (MSW2 processing plants is derived from sale of output products. Salable products include rem\-rrrd ferrous and non-ferrous metals, glass. am1 otl~rr materials u s r d for fuel, animal-feed constituents, and more. As in all processing systems, percentage recoven, grade of recovered product, per-ton recoven cost, and market demand govern the output product's marketability.
Figure One

Figure Two

A FullScale RecoveSystem Waste Reclamation P ant

for aMunicipal Solid

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A Basic System for Recovery of Ferrous Metallics from Municipal Solid Waste

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Tlus article deals with the recovery of ferrous metals

from refuse through the use of magnetic separation teclulolog?:

Processing schemes and magnets

Ferrous metals generally represent 7% to 8% of a refuse processing plant's input feed. Most existing plants shred refuse to reduce size and liberate rwoverat)le materials.
By D.G. MORGAN
Morgan 1 presldent of Applled Magnetlc Systems, Mllwaukee. Wls s

Figure One represents a basic system in which the the shredder's output passes directly under two magnetic drums. Note that these are designed to remove approxllnatel~~ of the ferrous metal-and, in the 95% system fflustratrd, no sizing d e ~ i c is in h e following r the shredder. Figure "wo displays a system that uses both sizing

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WASTE AGE

JULY 1987

(a trommel) and gravity (nair classifier) on shredder a output, as well as the same magnet configuration , ~vn previously. .;lso shown is another magnet configuration (amagnetic head pulley), farther downstream. This accomplishes additional cleaning of the non-ferrous ia constituents prior to theirf n lseparation. Figure Three A Permanent Magnetic Head Pully Arrangemerit
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Figure Four A Multiple Tandem Magnetic Drum Arrangement

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Magnets used are usually either permanent magnetic u i s or electromagnetic units. Permanent magnets nt need no power, keeping maintenance and operational :sts quite low. Electromagnetics provide an advantage: one can vary magnetic field intensity. Generally, there are three configurations: pulleys,drums, and suspended magnets. Rgures Three through Five show typical respective arrangements; F'gureSix illustrates a variation of the suspended type shown in m e Five. Each of the three magnet configurations is discussed separately below.
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Vagnetic head pulley

Materials to be separated are conveyed on a belt over the magnetic head pulley CRgUre Tre so that the he) non-ferrous material falls freely onto the next-conveymg device. Ferrous metals are attracted to themagnetic head pulley. These are then carried on the conveyor belt, over the magnetic head pulley, pastthe free-fall zone of the non-ferrous material. Theyare then deposited onto :mother conveying deviee orno a bin or hopper. it S i c e non-ferrous materials (paper, textiles, or plastics) may become trapped between ferrous objects and the belt traversing the head pulley, these can be carried over with the ferrous metal. Thus, sometimes an additional cleaning step is required before the ferrous product can be sold The conveyor belt should be cleated to assure positive discharge of the ferrous product.

magnet assembly mounted insideof a rotating outer cylinder. The drum can be arranged for either overfeed or underfeed. As before, cleated drums provide positive discharge of the product. In the ove7feed method, material is fed onto the drum's top centerline from a relatively uniformly distributed waste bed. Magnetic material either holds to the drum through the magnetic arc's length or deflects sufficiently from the normal path to be taken onto the next processing step. A splitter device assures clean separation. In the underfed armngement., material is donveyed into position near the drum's base. Metals are attracted to the face of the drum, conveyed up and over the top (or deflected horizontally), and discharged ontoa con'veyor. Non-magnetics fall onto another conveyor. Generally, the overfeed anangement nets higher ferrous recovery and more entrapment of nonmagnetic material, e& plastics,papers, textiles, etc., wfiile the underfeed method provides a cleaner ferrous product at the expense of a somewhat lower recovery rate. A t y p i c a l concurrent, doubledrum anangement, shown in F'gure Four, generally results in an even '. cleaner ferrous product

Suspended magnet
These generally are supplied with a cleated belt,and mounted either in-line with or perpendicularto the material flow. h the latter case, t e & referred to as hy cross-belt units.
Figure Five An Inline Maanetie Separator Asngement

Magnetic drum
A magnetic drum usually consists of a stationary

JULY 1987 / WASTE AGE

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Figure Six

A Triplex Magnet with Armored Belt

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A triplex magnet, a proprietary belt-driven,suspended separator, is itlustrated in Figure Six. This novel arrangement uses multiple magnets arrangedso the metals are agitated both laterally and transversely whde moving through the magnetic field; the -tation reduces the amount of material trapped with the metals. Stainless steel platesmay be installed along the center line of the cleated belt to minimize belt wear.
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Best return

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Suspended magnets are usually positioned shghtly above and ahead of the pulley delivenng the product. Large pieces of material may occasionally cause jams on cross-belt versions; in-line arrangements are not as susceptible to l h s problem. Attracted metals are lifted from the material flow, carried along the bottom of the cleated belt, and d w charged onto a second conveyor. Non-magnetic matter falls onto another conveyor. A common in-line, suspended arrangement is illustrated in Fgure Five.

Magnetic separation of ferrous metals from MSW is a here today, proven technology. Ithas a long-standmg history of generatlng profits, a resultof experience from applications in ore beneficiation, slag reclamation, automobile shreddmg, and scrap processmg industries. Magnetic separation equipment is generally the least costly of al the equipment needed in a waste processl mg facility. The return on investment for magnetic separators may well be among the m e s t in the entire plant. I

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