1. BACKGROUND:
• Separation of non-ferrous material plays an imperative role in
the mining and recycling industries. Eddy current separation
technique is widely used for recovering non-ferrous metals.
• Eddy currents are induced in the conductive non-ferrous
metals due to time-varying magnetic field. Interaction
between eddy currents and the magnetic field results in
electrodynamic forces upon the conductive particles , and
hence different trajectories for these particles and the non-
conductive ones.
• Current separation technique utilizes rotating drum embraced
with permanent magnets alternately N-S and S-N orientated.
A conveyor belt takes the particle over the drum and the
conductive particles encounters the eddy current causing
them to deflect, which are collected from designated
collectors.
NAME – SURAKTIM NATH
INDUSTRY PARTNER – GRIFFITH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR – HUGO ESPINOSA
INDUSTRY SUPERVISOR – DAVID THIEL, HUGO ESPINOSA & SASCHA
STEGEN
DEGREE – BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
MAJOR – ELECTRONIC AND ENERGY ENGINEERING
AIM:
The aim of this project was to contribute to the proof of concept, if
electromagnets can be utilised in separating non-ferrous
conducting materials on the basis of Eddy Current separation
technique.
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION:
• Operating frequency of changing magnetic field is restricted in
rotating drum technology, resulting in the limitation of
separating smaller particles.
• High frequency electromagnetic eddy current separation
operates on high frequency AC enabling it to separate wide
variety of materials both in nature and size.
PROJECT SCOPE:
• Design and testing of electromagnets.
• Focus was conveyed in testing laminated soft iron I shape and C
shape electromagnets provided in Fig2.
• Building AC generating driving circuit – Arduino Motor Shield
and Power Amplifier circuit.
• Testing electromagnets on particles of different shapes and
sizes which can be referred from (Fig 3).
• Analysis of the experimental outcome.
• Recommendations for further advancement of this project.
CONCLUSION
• The C core exhibited a better performance than the I
core due to lower its magnetic flux loss (Fig1).
• Both the AC generating drivers (Motor Shield & Power
Amplifier) were functioning desirably.
• Deflection of Sample 2, 3 and 10 have been noticed.
• Poor performance of soft iron laminated core in higher
frequency range have been established (Fig 7) and
justified due to increase in the effective resistance of the
inductors (Fig 9).
• Coil is frequency dependent and reduction in
conductivity of current at higher frequencies was
observed.
• Maximum magnetic field strength was achieved with
square waves (Fig 8).
• The C core was resonated at 1 kHz using a capacitor bank
and resulted in increase of magnetic field by 70% shown
in Fig6.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations will assist the future
candidate in the further research and development of this
project:
• Ferrite core can be utilised to attain the proof of concept.
• Powder cores (Kool Mu, MPP, High Flux, XFlux and
AmoFlux) can be employed to achieve a higher magnetic
field (1.6 Tesla) at higher frequencies (Fig 10).
• Coil with the AWG range of 18 – 23 can be involved to
operate at higher frequencies.
SEPARATION OF NON-FERROUS
MATERIALS USING ELECTROMAGNETS
Reference
[1] Ulaby et al., Fundamental of Applied Electromagnetics,
Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2010.
![BACKGROUND:
• Separation of non-ferrous material plays an imperative role in
the mining and recycling industries. Eddy current separation
technique is widely used for recovering non-ferrous metals.
• Eddy currents are induced in the conductive non-ferrous
metals due to time-varying magnetic field. Interaction
between eddy currents and the magnetic field results in
electrodynamic forces upon the conductive particles , and
hence different trajectories for these particles and the non-
conductive ones.
• Current separation technique utilizes rotating drum embraced
with permanent magnets alternately N-S and S-N orientated.
A conveyor belt takes the particle over the drum and the
conductive particles encounters the eddy current causing
them to deflect, which are collected from designated
collectors.
NAME – SURAKTIM NATH
INDUSTRY PARTNER – GRIFFITH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR – HUGO ESPINOSA
INDUSTRY SUPERVISOR – DAVID THIEL, HUGO ESPINOSA & SASCHA
STEGEN
DEGREE – BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
MAJOR – ELECTRONIC AND ENERGY ENGINEERING
AIM:
The aim of this project was to contribute to the proof of concept, if
electromagnets can be utilised in separating non-ferrous
conducting materials on the basis of Eddy Current separation
technique.
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION:
• Operating frequency of changing magnetic field is restricted in
rotating drum technology, resulting in the limitation of
separating smaller particles.
• High frequency electromagnetic eddy current separation
operates on high frequency AC enabling it to separate wide
variety of materials both in nature and size.
PROJECT SCOPE:
• Design and testing of electromagnets.
• Focus was conveyed in testing laminated soft iron I shape and C
shape electromagnets provided in Fig2.
• Building AC generating driving circuit – Arduino Motor Shield
and Power Amplifier circuit.
• Testing electromagnets on particles of different shapes and
sizes which can be referred from (Fig 3).
• Analysis of the experimental outcome.
• Recommendations for further advancement of this project.
CONCLUSION
• The C core exhibited a better performance than the I
core due to lower its magnetic flux loss (Fig1).
• Both the AC generating drivers (Motor Shield & Power
Amplifier) were functioning desirably.
• Deflection of Sample 2, 3 and 10 have been noticed.
• Poor performance of soft iron laminated core in higher
frequency range have been established (Fig 7) and
justified due to increase in the effective resistance of the
inductors (Fig 9).
• Coil is frequency dependent and reduction in
conductivity of current at higher frequencies was
observed.
• Maximum magnetic field strength was achieved with
square waves (Fig 8).
• The C core was resonated at 1 kHz using a capacitor bank
and resulted in increase of magnetic field by 70% shown
in Fig6.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations will assist the future
candidate in the further research and development of this
project:
• Ferrite core can be utilised to attain the proof of concept.
• Powder cores (Kool Mu, MPP, High Flux, XFlux and
AmoFlux) can be employed to achieve a higher magnetic
field (1.6 Tesla) at higher frequencies (Fig 10).
• Coil with the AWG range of 18 – 23 can be involved to
operate at higher frequencies.
SEPARATION OF NON-FERROUS
MATERIALS USING ELECTROMAGNETS
Reference
[1] Ulaby et al., Fundamental of Applied Electromagnetics,
Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2010.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/488758d0-09ad-4d15-8121-c838a41e21ed-150825041048-lva1-app6892/85/Poster-1-320.jpg)
