KSEF KCF: Development and Commercialization of Next-Generation Triboelectrostatic Separator

The proposed technology represents a major breakthrough in the triboelectrostatic separation of particulate materials. It can be used for mineral beneficiation, waste recycling, food purification, material processing, etc. Traditional triboelectrostatic separa.tors utilize moving belts or copper tubing to electrify particles. The process suffers trom low particle electrification efficiency, low solids throughput, narrow' particle size range «250 J.1m), ffequent belt replacement (e.g., every day), high operation and labor costs, etc. As a result, its commercialization is considerably hindered and few applications have been found. The proprietary technology is characterized by a specially designed roller with an externally applied electric field for rapid and efficient mction and contact charging of particles. The advantages over existing triboelectrostatic separators include much higher throughput, wider particle size range (0- 1000 J.1ffi),substantially enhanced process efficiency, considerably reduced operation cost, significantly improved operation reliability, etc. Preliminary results show that the proposed technology can increase solids throughput by more than one order of magnitude and process efficiency by about 30-40%. With improved process throughput and efficiency the proposed technology is much more competitive than traditional separators and has the great potential for commercialization in energy, mining/mineral, electronic waste, materials, food, and other industries. Weare in the early stage of applying a patent for the proposed technology. Testing has been conducted with fly ash, phosphate, hematite samples and results are very promising. Future testing is planned for electronic wastes trom com uters and rinters,waste lastics,automobileshreds,non-ferrousmetal ores.