An apparatus and a method for sorting a particulate material

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for sorting a particulate material. The apparatus comprises a receiving portion for receiving the particulate material having a particle size within a predetermined range of sizes. The apparatus also comprises a distributor for receiving the particulate material at an upper end thereof and having a sloped distribution surface along which, in use, the particulate material passes substantially by gravity. A surface area of the sloped distribution surface increases towards a lower end of the distributor to facilitate a monolayer feed stream of the particles exiting and falling from a lower end of the distributor distributed as a curtain-like stream of particles. The apparatus further comprises a magnetic element for generating a magnetic force that is directed such that the particles of the falling feed stream that exit the lower end of the distributor have pathways that depend on magnetic properties of the particles. The apparatus also comprises sorting portions for sorting the particles based on the pathways of the particles.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for sorting particulate material and in particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for sorting mineral raw material such as iron ore. Background technique [0002] The mining of large quantities of iron ore is required to meet the growing demand for steel products. Mined iron ore typically includes a mixture of waste material, such as rock, and iron-containing minerals such as magnetite, hematite or goethite. [0003] In addition, iron ores come in different grades, and in particular, iron-rich ores that contain a larger proportion of iron facilitate further processing. Therefore, it is important to be able to separate rock from iron-bearing minerals, but it would be desirable that iron-bearing minerals could also be sorted into different types or grades in an efficient manner. [0004] Different sorting devices have been proposed for sorting material into...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

These existing sorting devices are generally not suitable for sorting mineral raw materials on a large scale due to the complexity of the mechanisms involved, which typically include multiple interacting and / or moving parts for sorting the material

This makes these existing sorting devices generally unsuitable for large volumes of mineral material and increases the likelihood of frequent maintenance, resulting in reduced reliability

In addition, existing equipment is often configured to only sort material into discrete magnetic and non-magnetic components and cannot be used to sort sorted material into multiple grades based on the magnetic response of the material to be sorted

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