Master Magnets supply laboratory processing equipment to Belgium
Dry Processing Research Institute Vito NV located in Belgium has bought several items of Laboratory Magnetic Equipment from Master Magnets to evaluate the magnetic properties of different minerals in their research.
To test dry, free-flowing materials they purchased a High Intensity Bench Top Induced Roll, which can be very selective due to the many ways to adjust the magnetic intensity in the separation zone.
- The control panel provides variable flux control to the magnetic coils increasing or decreasing the magnetic intensity.
- The roll speed can be adjusted varying the centrifugal forces on the particles.
- The gap between the roll and the magnetic pole can be adjusted, and the greater the gap, the more the magnetic field is reduced.
Magnetic intensities in the separation zone can exceed 2 Tesla. Samples are fed through the machine and two products are collected a ‘magnetic’ and a ‘non magnetic’ fraction which can be weighed, before chemical analysis to evaluate the minerals present in each fraction.
Wet Processing
For materials with a very fine particle size < 65µm, dry separation is not an option as the particles become airborne, so to magnetically separate these minerals they need to be mixed with water into a slurry and processed wet. To this end Vito purchased a Wet Test Chute with interchangeable magnet systems, a low intensity Strontium Ferrite and a higher intensity Neodymium Iron Boron (Rare Earth) system, a simple piece of equipment for basic testing.
To test paramagnetic minerals again with fine particle size, a higher intensity separator is required. Vito therefore purchased a Laboratory WHIMS (Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator) Jaw Type Separator. This separator treats slurry samples and can separate out paramagnetic particles. A stainless steel canister is placed between two high intensity electromagnetic poles. Inside the canister, various matrices can be placed depending on the material being processed. Three wedge wire matrices, made from magnetic stainless steel, are supplied with the equipment with different aperture sizes (4 x 2mm, 3 x 1·5mm & 2 x 1mm) as shown below, which are selected depending on the particle size of the sample being tested. The sharp edges on the matrices generate extremely high magnetic intensities in excess of 2 Tesla, which capture and retain the paramagnetic particles in the slurry.
A slurry sample is poured through the matrix inside the canister with the electro magnet turned on and any magnetic particles in the flow are retained inside the matrix and the slurry is collected in a bucket. On completion the remaining material in the matrix is flushed through with water.
The bucket is then replaced and the magnet turned off so that the captured magnetic particles can be flushed out and collected. Each fraction is then dried, weighed and analysed. A control panel is supplied with the separator so that the magnetic intensity can be varied to reduce or increase the magnetic field.
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