Page 18 - HUB-4 Magazine Issue 99

RWM – Resource & Waste Management Expo
Get More Metal Out:
Smarter Separation for
Higher-Value Recycling
At RWM, Bunting will show how a carefully
staged separation circuit can protect plant,
recover more saleable metal and improve the
quality of recycled materials.
For recycling operators, metal is both a problem and an
opportunity. Left in the wrong stream, it can damage
equipment, reduce product quality, and send avoidable value
to disposal. Recovered at the right point, it becomes a saleable
commodity and helps create cleaner, more consistent outputs.
The first gains start with ferrous removal
The most effective separation strategies begin by removing
tramp and free ferrous metal as early as practical. Suspension
and overband magnets can be positioned above conveyors to
lift steel from a moving burden, while magnetic head pulleys
provide continuous extraction at the discharge point. These
stages protect crushers, shredders, and screens, reduce
unplanned downtime, and prepare the remaining material for
more precise downstream separation.
Where material characteristics, burden depth, or throughput
make the application more demanding, the magnetic system
must be selected around the real process rather than a
catalogue label. Field strength, reach, belt speed, installation
height, and the shape of the feed all affect performance. A
well-chosen first stage creates stable feed conditions that
allow every later stage to work harder.
BUNTING AT RWM | STAND ME-E254
Recovering the non-ferrous value
Once ferrous metal has been removed, eddy current separation
opens the door to valuable non-ferrous recovery. A high-speed
magnetic rotor induces electrical currents in conductive
particles, producing a repulsive force that throws metals such
as aluminium, copper, and brass away from the main material
trajectory. The result is a clean, continuous separation without
physical picking.
Performance depends on more than magnetic intensity.
Consistent feeding, a controlled burden depth, suitable particle
size and a clear material trajectory at the splitter are all
essential. When those conditions are designed into the line, an
eddy current separator can turn a mixed fraction into distinct,
marketable outputs and reduce the metal content carried into
subsequent processing.
For finer or more complex fractions, electrostatic separation
adds another route. By exploiting the different electrical
behaviour of conductive and non-conductive particles,
electrostatic separators can help recover metal from plastics
and other mixed materials where colour, density or
conventional magnetic response alone is not enough.
The stainless-steel challenge
Stainless steel is often one of the most frustrating losses in a
recycling plant. Many stainless grades are only weakly
magnetic, while shredding and work hardening can change
their magnetic response. Fragments may pass conventional
magnets and remain with the product, reducing quality and
leaving valuable metal behind.
Self-cleaning overband magnets continuously remove
ferrous metal from conveyed material. Image: Bunting
| p18 |
www.hub-4.com July/August - Issue 99