Powder & Bulk Handling

Those industries that eventually depend on these processed dry bulk solids and powders rely on suppliers to produce a product that is both reliable and full of quality. Inevitably, a range of equipment is used by each processer as the powder and solids go through the various production processes, with the aim of producing a quality final product.

The powder and bulks industry itself will process many kinds of materials and these could be anything from bulkier materials that will go on to be used in biomass industries to much smaller particles that may end up in industries like pharmaceutical. Although many of these materials will go through different processes on the way to market, regardless of the process, the possibility of metal contamination exists.

Metal contamination that makes its way into any of these products, ultimately means a loss of quality and purity, and with so many stages in production, the chance of contamination is ever present. The metal can even damage production equipment. If contamination ends up in the final product, it can be hugely damaging to business with the possibility of the product being rejected. Loss of profit and even worse, loss of reputation can be the end result which makes getting the metal removal process right, all the more important. Whichever way metal contamination finds its way into the product, there are ways of removing it, and so the problems can certainly be solved.

One of the solutions is to utilise the magnetic separators designed and manufactured by Bunting Magnetics which are suitable for a range of production lines including those being conveyed and fed by gravity. Combining these magnetic separators with the support, knowledge and expertise of the Bunting team will ensure that your product is free of metal contaminants and is of high quality.

Magnetic Separators for Powder and Bulk Industries

Tube/Cartridge Magnets – Shaped like a rod, these magnets are designed to remove fine ferrous metal from dry or wet products that are free flowing. Used primarily as inspection tools, tube magnets are also the main components used in a host of other magnetic separators.

Grid/Grate Magnets – Often used within the powder and bulk industries, they feature the magnetic cartridges mentioned above and therefore are designed to effectively eliminate any fine ferrous metal contamination found in free flowing materials. If also needed for the food industry, they are available in a sanitary design in round, square and rectangular models.

HF Series Drawer Magnets – Utilising stacked grate magnets which allows for the highest level of separation power as well as a handle system to make inspection easier, these HF Series Draw Magnets are ideally suited to picking up and removing ferrous metal contaminants from dry free flowing products. Choose between different configurations and cleaning methods with both fully automatic and manual pneumatic versions available. As with grid magnets, if required for food applications, sanitary designs are available.

Plate Magnets – These magnets can also capture fine ferrous metals but in addition are also able to pick up more significant pieces of tramp metal from free flowing materials. Versatile in the sense that they can be situated and work effectively below or above the product flow. Whereas grate magnets are liable to block and clog when damp materials are used, the plate magnets are ideally suited to a moist environment like this. If the flow is enclosed, a plate in housing option is available. They are available as manual and pneumatic clean versions like their HF Series counterparts. If heavier bulk solids are being used and risk of metal contamination is low in an area where little cleaning is needed, then you can also use suspended plate magnets.

In-Line Magnets – This range is another of those that is suited to removing fine ferrous metal contaminants – but this time from pipelines. There are a number of different magnets in this particular range including: Gravity In-Line, Pneumatic In-line and Centre Flow In-Line magnets. Pneumatic In-Line are best suited to pneumatic conveying systems, while the Gravity In-line are designed to be used in situations where the product falls under gravity flow and both of these capture the contaminants using the Plate magnets from Bunting. Bullet (bullet shaped) or Centre Flow In-Line magnets pick up debris and metal contaminants from, as the name suggests, the centre of the pipes product flow.

Magnetic Traps – Magnetic traps use Bunting Magnetics range of cartridge magnets as they offer continuous magnetic protection for liquids or slurries such as paper milling. They are available in a number of different set-ups in order to best suit different applications.

Drum Magnets – This kind of magnet is useful for quickly and automatically removing ferrous metals from a product flow. When materials on a process line pass over the drum magnet, any pieces that are magnetic will stick to the drum until it is completely removed from the product flow. This metal can then be collected separately.

Cross Belt Separators – These are sometimes referred to as suspended magnets or even overband magnets and are employed when the continuous separation of metal is required. In most cases they are placed, suspended over a conveyor belt which might be carrying things like cement and other heavy bulk solids and as the materials pass under the magnets, the metal contaminants are attracted and then removed from the product flow via a self-cleaning belt.