Dry fractionation of plant material powders using an electrostatic corona separator: a model study

In a dry bioreffinery scheme, the separation of plant materials into fractions of interest compound is a crucial step. In recent years, electrostatic separation of agri-resources has sparked a growing interest for its potential but optimization efforts remain to be done especially in case of fine powders. The present work is an experimental investigation of factors, which influence the separation process of plant biomass powders in a custom built corona electrostatic separator with view to optimization. Three particle size classes of cork, semolina and wood powders have been characterized in term of charge decay curves and their behavior on the device have been studied. Separation tests of a blend constituted of 1g of wood powder and 1g of semolina have also been conducted with very promising results. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Electrostatic separation processes for powdery materials. Applications to waste recycling and in food industry

La démarche expérimentale menée dans cette thèse a eu comme objectif l'étude de la faisabilité de la séparation électrostatique d'une large gamme de mélanges de matériaux pulvérulents provenant du recyclage des déchets (Al, Cu, ABS, polycarbonate, polystyrène) ou de l'industrie agro-alimentaire (paille, copeaux de bois, semoule). Les recherches se sont focalisées sur des techniques faisant appel à trois mécanismes physiques différents pour la charge des matériaux : la décharge couronne, l'induction électrostatique et l'effet tribo-électrique. Deux nouvelles installations ont été conçues et réalisées, permettent de faciliter la compréhension des phénomènes physiques rencontrés lors de la séparation des particules sous-millimétriques, dont les trajectoires sont difficile à contrôler, en raison des importantes forces aérodynamiques en jeu. La première installation, le séparateur électrostatique multifonctions à électrode-convoyeur, donne la possibilité d'étudier un ou plusieurs des trois mécanismes de charge, en rapport avec les propriétés électriques des matériaux à traiter. La deuxième installation, le séparateur tribo-aéro-électrostatique à électrodes-disques-tournantes, utilise seulement l'effet tribo-électrique pour la charge des matériaux isolants dans un lit fluidisé. Le système de mesures simultanées et continues de la masse et de la charge électrique des produits collectés a facilité l'analyse des phénomènes. Les recherches ont permis de confirmer la séparabilité électrostatique des mélanges de matériaux pulvérulents, en faisant appel à la méthodologie des plans d'expériences pour identifier les facteurs influents et trouver le point de fonctionnement optimal.The experimental approach undertaken in this thesis was aimed at the study of the feasibility of the electrostatic separation of a wide range mixtures of powdery materials originating from the recycling of waste electric and electronic equipment (Al, Cu, ABS, polycarbonate, polystyrene), or processed in the food industry (straw, wood chips, meal). Researches were focused on techniques using three different physical mechanisms for electrical charging of the materials: corona discharge, electrostatic induction and triboelectric effect. Two new installations have been designed end engineered to facilitate the understanding of the physical phenomena involved in the separation of powdery particles, the trajectories of which are difficult to control, as strongly affected by the aerodynamic forces. The first installation, the belt-type multifunction electrostatic separator, offers the possibility to study one or several of the three charging mechanisms, in relation with the electrical properties of the materials to be processed. The second installation, two-rotating-disks-type tribo-aero-electrostatic separator uses only the triboelectric effect for charging mixtures of insulating materials in a fluidized bed. A system of simultaneous and continuous measurement of mass and electric charge of collected products facilitated the investigation of the physical phenomena. These researches confirm the feasibility of the electrostatic separation of powdery materials, by taking advantage of the design of experiments methodology to identify the influential factors and find the optimum operation conditions

Electrostatic separation of peeling and gluten from finely ground wheat grains

Sieving and air classification are not efficient enough for the extraction of the high-nutritional-value constituents of wheat. The aim of this article is to validate a simple electrostatic separation method of peeling and gluten, which are two such nutriments contained in finely ground wheat grains. The electrostatic separator is composed of metallic grounded belt conveyer and a rotating roll electrode connected to a high voltage supply. The electrostatic behavior of peeling and gluten powders was characterized using surface potential decay and direct charge measurements. These first set of experiments pointed out the conductive behavior of these powders: in contact with a grounded electrode, they lose their charge in less than 10s. In a second set of experiments, mixtures of 50% peeling and 50% gluten powders were processed by electrostatic separation. Experimental design methodology was used to model the outcome of the separation process as function of two control variables: the high-voltage applied to the roll electrode and the speed of the belt conveyor electrode. In this way, it was possible to determine the optimal operational conditions for the recovery of high-purity peeling and gluten fractions