21. 12. 2023
Separation of metals from brown sugar (case study)
Initial status
The customer processes brown sugar in sizes from 0,8 to 1,0 mm. The production capacity is 5 t/hour.
Problem
The customer required to separate ferrous metals from brown sugar. The sugar contained metal particles in sizes from 1 to 10 mm, which is completely unacceptable for the customer. The customer had to choose between a manually cleaned or an automatically cleaned separator. The magnetic separator with manual cleaning was preferred, but due to the expected frequent cleaning frequency, the customer required a separator with a simple and fast cleaning system.
As all the production technology was classified in the ATEX Zone 22 (= with the explosion hazard), it was necessary to design a suitable magnetic separator.
Solution
Since the customer required the separation of ferrous particles in size about 1 mm, we recommended using a drawer magnet. We equipped this separator with the strongest neodymium magnets, which create an extremely strong magnetic field of 18700 G!
Thanks to the use of powerful magnets, we could reliably capture not only iron contaminants in the size of 1 mm but also ferrous particles that were considerably smaller - as small as 1 micron!The customer really appreciated this.
A suitable place for the separator installation was found behind the screw conveyor. The sugar falls from this conveyor onto the magnetic grates of the separator from a height of about 0,5 m. We have placed the drawer magnet MSS-MC LUX 150/5 Ex into a 150-mm pipe.
The advantage of this separator is especially the easy and safe cleaning. The magnetic cores are firmly attached to the separator body, so there is no risk of injury when cleaning the separator. (when cleaning separators with loosely placed magnetic grates, there is a risk of the grid being attracted to a metal object - floor, pipes etc. – and injuring fingers). Cleaning is a matter of seconds!
We have manufactured the separator to meet the requirements for ATEX zone 22.
Benefits of using the drawer magnet MSS-MC LUX 150/5 Ex
Regular separator cleaning led to the removal of 20 - 50 g of iron particles per hour (and even very small micron-sized particles were captured).
It turned out that there might also be larger iron objects in the processed material. We even separated a ferrous piece of 40 x 25 mm! This could cause serious damage to the expensive production equipment.
The efficiency of the magnetic separation and the easy cleaning system of the separator made the customer satisfied with our equipment.
Applied equipment: Magnetic grate separator MSS-MC LUX 150/5 Ex
Advantages of the drawer magnet MSS-MC LUX 150/5 Ex
- Two-stage separation
- Magnetic core kink-protection sleeve
- Easy, quick and safe cleaning
- Big variability of connexion
- 18 700 Gauss on the magnetic core and 12 200 Gauss on the lateral area
