High Gradient Magnetic Separations Of Fine Particles From Industrial Streams

High gradient magnetic separations (HGMS) is a recently developed technique in which magnetic micron-size particles contained in a flowing fluid medium can be extracted from that medium. HGMS is presently utilized on a commercial scale in the kaolin processing and steel industries, and is being investigated for solid-liquid separations in numerous other processes. The performance characteristics of HGMS in the kaolin and steel industries are briefly summarized. A discussion of HGMS performance with respect to solids removal in a coal liquefaction process is presented to illustrate its applicability to difficult solid-liquid separations. Here, the properties of the solids suspended in the liquified coal are such that the HGMS separator achieves over 90% solids removal. The optimization of the HGMS operating parameters to yield these results will be discussed. To further illustrate the potential of HGMS, its performance with respect to the removal of oil and solids (over 98% removal) from a petroleum refinery process water effluent stream will be briefly considered.