Goudsmit Magnetics, based in Waalre in the Netherlands, recently launched a rotating Cleanflow magnetic separator suitable for installation in free-fall lines in a continuous process.
Cleaning takes place without stopping the product flow - an explicit request from a customer who wanted to recycle cans of milk powder in a continuous process. During the cleaning cycle, the magnets stay in the product flow. This guarantees the user that no iron falls back into the product during cleaning, something that was regularly a problem with other systems.
The unit can be used in the chemical, ceramic, plastic and recycling industries, among others. In the latter case, it is used to make plastic or rubber granules metal-free.
Operation
The magnetic bars in the Cleanflow magnetic separator filter metal particles and paramagnetic particles from 30 μm out of powders and granular products.
The separator is suitable for high capacity product flows (up to approximately 60 m3/hour) and has a high magnetic flux density of over 9,000 gauss at the contact surface of the bars.
The disadvantage of fatty (milk) powder is that this product does not flow well. This is why the magnetic bars rotate in the product flow. This ensures that the bars remain clean and the metal dirt comes into optimal contact with the magnets. The result is not only a high degree of separation, but also a high metal separation capacity.
Cleaning
With many magnetic separators, the magnets need to be removed from their housing during a cleaning cycle to remove the trapped metal particles. However, Goudsmit knows from experience that this method creates the risk that metal falls back into the product flow and that production must be suspended in order to clean the separator. That is why the company has designed this new system in such a way that the magnets remain in the product flow during cleaning. Only the metal-contaminated sleeves around the magnetic bars are removed together with the metal particles, which are subsequently replaced by clean sleeves. This makes it possible to clean the magnet without stopping production.
