Corona–Electrostatic Separation: An Efficient Technique for the Recovery of Metals and Plastics From Industrial Wastes

Abstract

Better management of secondary resources, such as copper, aluminium and plastics from electric wire and cable waste requires improved methods of processing of reusable materials. This paper presents three typical examples of recycling technologies, each of them using the capability of electric fields to sort metallic and insulating materials from granular mixture. The efficiency of corona–electrostatic separation as a basic operation of a recycling flowsheet has been demonstrated for feedrates not exceeding 200 kg/hour. At the same time, it has been proved that electroseparation can represent a complement to conventional air–gravity separation of metals and insulators from industrial wastes. The in–plant tests provided useful information for a customs–design of corona–electrostatic separators.