A multi-body, multi-particle simulation model of Eddy Current Separation (ECS) process for recycling

The development of physical process models for the Eddy Current Separation technology have attracted significant attention in the past, due to the wide diffusion of this technology in modern recycling systems for separating non-ferrous from non-metal particles. Existing models correctly simulate the trajectories of single particles fed on the conveyor belt. However, they perform poorly while considering particle-particle interactions and collisions. This makes it particularly difficult to correctly predict the recovery and the grade attainable by the ECS process in presence of high flow rates, similar to those that are typically observed in recycling of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). This paper proposes for the first time a multi- body, multi-particle simulation model for the detailed analysis of the effect of particle-particle interactions and collisions on the output performance of the process. Numerical results performed on state-of-the-art experimental settings show that the developed 3D simulation model outperforms existing models while considering particle impacts. Moreover, the model is useful in predicting the correlation between the mixture flow rate and the output contamination of non-ferrous particles, thus paving the way to the development of improved design of ECS machines for high flow rate processing.