Effect of Humidity of Atmosphere on the Electrostatic Separation of Coal

In order to recover the coal concentrate of low ash content, the electrostatic separation of coal was investigated. The separations with and without heating of feed were performed. It was ascertained that the separation without heating in the room temperature and the normal humidity resulted in an excellent recovery, about 98%, to obtain very low ash coal. From the results it was recognized that a suitable humidity was necessary for the electrostatic separation of coal. The effect of humidity on the electrostatic separation of coal was then studied through the measurements of electric discharge between electrodes, the adsorbed moisture on coal, and the electric charge on coal particles in terms of humidity. From these results, it was made clear that the electrostatic separation was excellent in 40〜80% relative humidity of atmosphere

Multifractal Image Analysis of Electrostatic Surface Microdischarges

The multifractal image analysis of Lichtenberg figures has confirrmed a self- similar arrangement of surface streamers belonging to the special case of electrostatic separation discharges propagating along a surface of polymeric dielectrics

An evaluation of the feasibility of electrostatic separation for physical soil washing

[EN] We present the first application of electrostatic separation for soil washing. Soil samples were collected from the PTE-containing area of La Cruz in Linares, southern Spain. Using a single-phase high-tension roll separator with voltages ranging from 20 kV to 41.5 kV, we achieved yield values between 0.69% and 9%, with high recovery rates for certain elements such as Zn, Cu, and Mo. SEM-EDX analysis revealed three particle types, including a non-conductive fraction composed of feldspar, a middling fraction composed of mica, and a conductive fraction consisting of PTE-bearing slag grains. Attributive analysis showed that 41.5 kV was the optimal voltage for maximizing PTE concentration. Overall, electrostatic separation is a promising approach for treating soils contaminated with PTEs, particularly in dry climate areas impacted by mining activities.S

Particle simulation of granular flows in electrostatic separation processes

In waste processing technology, the recent Corona Electrostatic Separation (CES) method is used to separate conductive from non-conductive particles in recycling streams. This paper proposes an innovative simulation approach based on non-smooth dynamics. In this context, a differential-variational formulation is used to implement a scalable and efficient time integrator that allows the large-scale simulation of trajectories of particles with different properties under the effect of particle-particle interactions and frictional contacts. Issues related to performance optimization, fast collision detection and parallelization of the code are discussed

Mitigating performance limitations of single beam-pipe circular e+e- colliders

Renewed interest in circular e+e- colliders has spurred designs of single beam-pipe machines, like the CEPC in China, and double beam pipe ones, such as the FCC-ee effort at CERN. Single beam-pipe designs profit from lower costs but are limited by the number of bunches that can be accommodated in the machine. We analyse these performance limitations and propose a solution that can accommodate O(1000) bunches while keeping more than 90% of the ring with a single beam pipe.Comment: Poster presented at IPAC'15, Richmond, VA, USA, May 201

Lunar beneficiation

Natural concentrations of industrially valuable minerals are far less likely to be found on the Moon than on the Earth. But that is all the more reason for devising beneficiation processes to concentrate and extract the useful mineral components in lunar rocks and soils. As an example of a useful mineral that can be beneficiated, it has been estimated that ilmenite abundance accounts for 15 and 20 percent of the volume of the Apollo 11 and 17 basalts and 2 and 5 percent by volume in the Apollo 11 and 17 soils. Reduction of lunar ilmenite with hydrogen imported from Earth appears to one of the more practical schemes for obtaining lunar oxygen. While the reported concentrations are significant, a more highly concentrated ilmenite extract would improve the efficiency of the reduction process. The topics covered include electrostatic concentration, magnetic concentration, lunar soil sizing, and electrical sizing

Beneficiation of lunar ilmenite

One of the most important commodities lacking in the moon is free oxygen which is required for life and used extensively for propellent. Free oxygen, however, can be obtained by liberating it from the oxides and silicates that form the lunar rocks and regolith. Ilmenite (FeTiO3) is considered one of the leading candidates for production of oxygen because it can be reduced with a reasonable amount of energy and it is an abundant mineral in the lunar regolith and many mare basalts. In order to obtain oxygen from ilmenite, a method must be developed to beneficiate ilmenite from lunar material. Two possible techniques are electrostatic or magnetic methods. Both methods have complications because lunar ilmenite completely lacks Fe(3+). Magnetic methods were tested on eucrite meteorites, which are a good chemical simulant for low Ti mare basalts. The ilmenite yields in the experiments were always very low and the eucrite had to be crushed to xxxx. These data suggest that magnetic separation of ilmenite from fine grain lunar basalts would not be cost effective. Presently, experiments are being performed with electrostatic separators, and lunar regolith is being waited for so that simulants do not have to be employed

Factors related to mineral separation in a vacuum

Very high vacuum terrestrial mineral beneficiation methods transferred to vacuum ambient of lunar surfac

Study of metal recovery from printed circuit boards by physical-mechanical treatment processes

The acceleration of the global production and consumption of electronics device and the concerns related to waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) motivated this research. Printed circuit board (PCB) can be found in almost all type of electronic devices, making it an important component of WEEE. It has a heterogenous composition made of polymers, ceramic material, and metals. It contains heavy metals that can cause environmental impacts due to improper disposal. But on the other hand, there are elements with added value, such as copper, gold, silver, iron, aluminum and critical raw materials, such tantalum that can be recovered, making PCB scrap an economically attractive for recycling. The metal recovery can conserve natural resources, since it prevents new minerals from being extracted and it is a great contribution to the circular economy, removing the waste from its disposal and reinserts in the production cycle. The mechanical recycling of PCBs was studied through different operations, with the following sequence, comminution, granulometric classification, magnetic separation, gravity separation and electrostatic separation. The goal is to concentrate metals, especially copper, identifying the main elements obtained through cheaper processes to recycle e-waste. The PCB composition was initially carried out through the scanning electron microscope analysis. Then, it was shredded in a cutting mill and classified according to their grain size by sieving. Afterwards, a magnetic separation has been performed together with gravity and electrostatic separation of the non-magnetic fraction. The products obtained were observed with the macroscope to qualitatively assess the metallic content. The results obtained allowed to conclude that physical-mechanical techniques have high potential to produce a concentrate product with high added value. The application of magnetic separation proved to be efficient, as it enabled the recovery of high percentage of iron. In gravity separation, the metal recovery was satisfactory for the particle size -0.6 + 0.3 mm and for the particle size -1.18 + 0.6mm. In the recovery of metals by electrostatic separation the efficiencies obtained was really high the lower particle size (-0.3mm)

Electrostatic Seperation

Electrostatic separation is one of those important unit operations where electrical conductivity property of mineral surface is used selectively to separate out desi-rable mineral from other undesirable minerals. Electro-static forces are generated by the action of an electric field on a charged particle. Consequently, in any electro-static separation process one needs a source of electrical potential to generate the electric field and a process by which the individual particles are charged electrically