Session: 15-01-01: General Topics on Risk, Safety, and Reliability I

Paper Number: 167132

Design an Automatic Cleaner for Removing Ferrous Materials in the Waste Separation Process 

The study presented in this paper is part of the DOE-EERE (Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy) funded project titled “High Precision Sorting, Fractionation, and Formulation of Municipal Solid Waste for Biochemical Conversion.” This project seeks to develop advanced sorting and fractionation technologies to separate the organic fraction from municipal solid waste (MSW) and to blend and formulate organic waste with lignocellulosic biomass for biochemical conversion. Separated organic materials can be incinerated to generate energy, allowing waste typically sent to a landfill to be repurposed. The complete sorting process includes conveyors to move the waste, a magnet to remove ferrous metals from the waste stream or infeed conveyor, and a disc screen to differentiate between organic and inorganic waste.

The initial stage of the sorting process involves testing pre-screening equipment designed to separate 95% of ferrous metals and 80% of plastics from municipal solid waste (MSW). The Dings overhead permanent stationary magnetic separator is utilized to extract ferrous metals from the moving waste, while the Ecostar stationary dynamic disc screen separates organic from inorganic waste. This magnetic separator is mounted above the infeed conveyor belts or other moving bulk material streams to eliminate magnetizable objects from the material flow. The powerful permanent magnets inside the separator generate a strong magnetic field around the conveyed material, which causes magnetizable objects to be drawn toward the magnet. These magnetizable objects remain attached to the magnetic face until they are manually removed by the operator. This removal process takes 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the volume of material collected by the magnetic separator. The cleaning operation is not only dangerous, as the operator must climb the infeed conveyor or a vertical ladder to access the magnetic separator, but it is also inefficient since all equipment must shut down for the operator to carry out the cleaning or collecting task. To address these issues, automation technology was integrated into the design of a cleaning device that automatically removes ferrous materials from the permanent magnet separator. This device eliminates the need for operator intervention, enhancing safety and improving overall efficiency.

This paper will explore various design options and discuss the development of an optimal solution, including design constraints, evaluation criteria, component materials and selection, removing force calculations and stress analysis, and simulations. An installation or integration with the current separator is also discussed.  

Keywords: Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Ferrous Material Separation, Magnetic Separator, Biochemical Conversion, Automation Technology

Presenting Author: Janet Dong University of Cincinnati

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Dong is a full professor in the department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

Authors:

Edmund Hale University of Cincinnati
Varun Chandra Sarkonda University of Cincinnati
Saisri Nakirekanti University of Cincinnati
Janet Dong University of Cincinnati
Maobing Tu University of Cincinnati