Hot Magnetic Separator Cooling System Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hot magnetic separation apparatuses face challenges in efficiently cooling magnet assemblies at high temperatures while maintaining the moving surface close to the magnets, especially when scaling to larger sizes and managing feed temperatures up to 700-800 degrees C.
Innovation Solution
A cooling system with a pair of plates disposed between the magnet assembly and the moving surface, passing a contained cooling fluid through a gap, and using inert gas for purging oxygen, along with a housing to maintain the processing zone at elevated temperatures, while controlling the temperature of the magnets below their Curie point and the particles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a cooling tube circuit is disposed between the magnet assembly and moving surface, then the magnets can be cooled, but the configuration is not efficient and difficult to scale to larger sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into multiple cooling channels formed between successive cooling plates. Each plate pair creates independent cooling zones that can be distributed across the magnet assembly surface, allowing efficient heat removal while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that scales well to larger separators.
Solution Approach 2:
Cooling plates are introduced as intermediary components between the magnet assembly and moving surface. These plates conduct heat away from the magnets while maintaining the necessary mechanical separation and alignment, providing an efficient thermal management interface without complex cooling tube circuits.
2Productivity
If the moving surface is kept close to the magnet assembly for efficient separation, then separation effectiveness improves, but heat transfer to the magnets increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling space is segmented into multiple channels between successive cooling plates, distributing the heat removal function across multiple zones. This allows the moving surface to remain close to the magnets for efficient separation while the segmented cooling structure provides distributed thermal management to prevent magnet overheating.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling fluid flows continuously through the cooling channels in a serpentine or parallel pattern, ensuring constant heat removal from the magnet assembly. This continuous cooling action maintains the temperature gradient necessary to keep magnets below their Curie point even when the moving surface is positioned close for optimal separation efficiency.
3Temperature
If cooling fluid pressure is increased to improve cooling efficiency, then heat removal improves, but input pressure requirements become unacceptable
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling approach transitions from relying on high pressure in a single channel to using extended flow paths between multiple plates. By distributing the cooling function across multiple plate pairs with sequential cooling channels, the system achieves effective heat removal through increased surface area and flow path length rather than high pressure, keeping input pressure within acceptable levels.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively maintains the magnet temperature below 120 degrees C, allowing for efficient separation of hot particles with different magnetic properties while ensuring the moving surface remains close to the magnet assembly, even at high temperatures, and allows for the scaling of the separator.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling system for maintaining the temperature of the magnets substantially below their Curie point, the cooling system comprising a pair of plates which are disposed between the magnet assembly and the moving surface, the cooling system configured to operate by passing a contained cooling fluid through a gap between the pair of plates
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of permanent magnets arranged in a magnet assembly and configured to create a magnetic flux capable of providing a coercive force on at least a portion of the particles
Implementation Method 3
a supply of inert cooling gas and a conduit for supplying the gas into the magnet assembly for purging the magnet assembly of oxygen
Implementation Method 4
a housing has an interior space defining a processing zone which includes the moving surface, the magnet assembly, the feed system, and the cooling system, the housing enclosing the processing zone for maintaining the processing zone at an elevated temperature
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for separating hot particles including a plurality of materials having different magnetic properties includes a plurality of permanent magnets arranged in a magnet assembly and configured to create a magnetic flux capable of providing a coercive force on at least a portion of the particles, a moving surface proximate the magnet assembly for carrying the particles in a downward path through the magnetic flux while the coercive force attracts the portion of the hot particles toward the moving surface, a feed system for supplying the particles onto the moving surface, and a cooling system for maintaining the temperature of the magnets substantially below their Curie point, the cooling system comprising a pair of plates which are disposed between the magnet assembly and the moving surface, the cooling system configured to operate by passing a contained cooling fluid through a gap between the pair of plates.