Bottom ash & incinerator slags

Powerful magnetic separation and sorting technology for the processing of bottom ash from incinerators.

  • Long service lifespan
  • Engineering, production & service
  • In-house test centre
  • Combined ferrous and non ferrous separation possible
  • Cost-effective and robust

Domestic waste combustion process:

Burning household waste occurs in large ovens, after which it is cooled with water or air. The resulting product is a slag mass called IBA: Incineration Bottom Ashes.

It consists mainly of two materials: metal and mineral fractions. Incinerator slags are usually first buffered (ageing) and then upgraded in what is called an SCF (slag cleaning furnace).

The metal fraction consists of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

Hereby it is important to recover as much metal as possible, creating a pure mineral fraction that is used as secondary building material.

Ash recycling IBA

What are incinerator slags?

Incinerator slags are a product of the waste-to-energy (WtE) process in which household waste is burned to generate warmth and electricity for households, for example. It is a grey, cement-like mass, coarse in texture.

 

Composition:

  • minerals:85 - 90%
  • ferrous / iron containing: 4 - 10%
  • non-ferrous: 2 - 5%

Properties:

  • specific mass: 1,000 - 1,500 kg/m³
  • humidity: 0 - 30%

Ferro separators

There are three types of ferro separators commonly used for bottom ash processing:

Add-on magnetic head pulleys

Magnetic head roller separators for the efficient separation of iron parts and magnetic slag.

<p>Magnetic head roller separators for the efficient separation of iron parts and magnetic slag.</p>

Ferrite overband magnets

Ferrite overband magnetic separatos for separating the larger iron parts.

<p>Ferrite overband magnetic separatos for separating the larger iron parts.</p>

Electro overband magnets

Electro overbands separate iron parts from thick layers, often applied at the beginning of the process.

<p>Electro overbands separate iron parts from thick layers, often applied at the beginning of the process.</p>

Separating ferrous metals

Ferrous metals are easy to separate with overband magnetic separators. The relatively pure separated ferrous fractions can then be fed directly back to the metal manufacturing industry (iron smelters / iron producers / blast furnaces) as secondary raw materials.

The finer fractions contain so-called magnetic slag, these are nuggets consisting of mineral and metal. Magnetic slag can be best separated with a 1,800 or 3,000 gauss head roller magnet.

Using the band speed and the position of the separation bulkhead, the grade of the material can be determined very accurately.

Overband magnets
Ferrite overband inline mounted

Non ferrous separator

There are two types of eddy current separators available for the processing of bottom ash and the recovery of non-ferrous metals:

EddyXpert - Eddy current separators

EddyXpert 12 and 22HI-pole eddy current separators for the recovery of non-ferrous metals in the coarse and medium-small fraction.

<p>EddyXpert 12 and 22HI-pole eddy current separators for the recovery of non-ferrous metals in the coarse and medium-small fraction.</p>

EddyFines - Eddy current separators

EddyFines 38HI eddy current separator for the recovery of non-ferrous metals in the fine fraction with particles from 0-20 mm.

<p>EddyFines 38HI eddy current separator for the recovery of non-ferrous metals in the fine fraction with particles from 0-20 mm.</p>

Eddy current separation

The eddy current technology separates non-ferrous metals as a metal mix. This metal mix can consist of aluminium, copper, zinc, brass, stainless steel, lead, nickel, gold, silver, palladium, platinum, magnesium and titanium.

The drier the material, the more easily the metals can be separated. The finer the fractions are, the more difficult it is to separate the non-ferrous metals. Often, in the fine fractions, we place multiple eddy current separators in cascading order.

This generates an optimal separation yield. The first machine, for example, focuses on the bulk metals and the aluminium (LNF, Light Non-Ferrous metals). The second eddy current focuses on the heavy metals (HNF, Heavy Non-Ferrous), including the copper parts and wires.

Eddy current separators
Eddy current 38HI cascading non ferrous 1200x750

More information?

For more information, please contact our experts:

Call: +31(0)40-2213283 or mail: info@goudsmitmagnets.com

Some of our customers