Calculation of the performance of electromagnetic magnetic liquid separator of non-magnetic materials

Abstract

Magnetic-liquid separation is a promising area in the field of disposal and recycling of non-magnetic materi-als. The performance and separation accuracy are important features of any separator. The methods for performance calculation offered at the present moment have a number of assumptions that can significantly affect the result (constant magnetic permeability of the magnetic fluid, linear change in tension along the height of the gap, etc.), and are applicable only to specific models of separators. The aim of this study is to develop a methodology for calculating the performance of an electromagnetic magnetic liquid separator of non-magnetic materials taking into account the distribution of the magnetic field in the gap and the influence of the hydrodynamic properties of the magnetic fluid on the movement of particles in the separation zone. Numerical methods are used to solve systems of equations of motion which are obtained on the basis of Newton's fundamental laws and the developed programs for calculating particle trajectories in the separation zone of a magnetic liquid separator are applied. To simplify the calculation, the particles are assumed to be spherical and, when they move, vortices in the magnetic fluid are not created. The system is solved iteratively: at each step, the change in values is calculated and is summed up with the result of the previous iteration. A technique has been developed for calculating the performance of an electromagnetic magnetic liquid separator of non-magnetic materials considering the distribution of the magnetic field in the gap and the influence of the hydrodynamic properties of the magnetic fluid on the particle movement in the separation zone. Particle trajectories in the separation zone are obtained, which allows one to analyze the separation process of the separator under development. The proposed approach allows calculating the mass and volumetric capacities of the magnetic liquid separator, the dependences of the capacities for each fraction separately and the total on various parameters of the separator (for example, on the angle of inclination of the pole pieces). The obtained results can be used to assess the optimality of the adopted parameters when designing a magnetic liquid separator. Also, the results obtained will help optimize the installations already in operation.