Plastic wastes recovery using free‐fall triboelectric separator

Abstract

Among the separation techniques used in industry, the triboelectric separation of insulating particles using rotary tube is an efficient technology employed in waste recovery and mineral industries. This process, also called free‐fall triboelectric separation, is widely used for the sorting and the purification of granular materials resulting from industrial plastic wastes. This paper offers a comprehensive description of a laboratory triboelectric separator build by the authors, and its use for an experimental study carried out on granular samples containing particles of PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) and PE (Polyethylene). Thus, among the variable factors of the process, we analysed the influence of the most important ones, that is, the rotational speed of the cylinder n(rpm), the applied high voltage U(kV), the charging time of the particles t(s), the mass of the sample m(g) and the composition percentage of the sample Cp (%).