Experimental electrostatic separator for charged particles of plastic mixture

Abstract

Electrostatic separation of triboelectrically charged plastic particles is investigated and verified on an experimental device. After presenting the fundamentals of the process in the introductory part, attention is paid to the stucture of the device and functions of its particular elements. The last part of the paper discusses the results of experiments aimed at separation of a mixture consisting of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and thermoplastic copolyester (TPC). Measured are various parameters of the process such as deflections of individual kinds of particles in electric field, efficiency of separation and purity of particular levels to be separated.