Sensor-Based Sorting 2014

Auszug

Hand picking is the oldest sorting process to purify raw materials and is still broadly in use. The high requirements of industrialized processes, the high mass throughputs and the strict quality demands, however, have pushed manual sorting to its limits. Only the rapid development of data processing, which started in the 1980s, has enabled a tremendous development of automated sorting of single particles and the corresponding potential for further innovations. In particular, the recycling industry owes its success to the recognition of material properties and the following sorting of material streams which is mainly conducted pneumatically. With the aid of multi-sensor technologies, the challenges of recognizing particles of very low masses and, at the same time, those of very high masses can be overcome as easily as recognizing very complex mate-rial compositions. In contrast to applications in the recycling industry, sensor-based sorting is still unfolding its potential for applications in the minerals industry. The successful combination of con-ventional processing methods with sensor-based sorters is the foundation for an increasing number of applications in the minerals industry. Generally speaking, sensor systems mimic our human senses and expand them. These systems pro-vide constant and reproducible results and extend technical perception to ranges of the electromag-netic spectrum beyond human perception. Developments in the chemical, medical and food indus-tries prompted today’s state-of-the-art of sensor technologies in the raw materials industry, thereby laying the foundation for future innovations. The sixth expert conference “Sensor-Based Sorting” addresses new developments and applications in the field of automatic separation techniques for primary and secondary raw materials. Contribu-tions deal with sorting systems that recognize different characteristics without contact or destruc-tion. Feed material is analyzed with sensors and intelligent data processing in order to provide selec-tive discharge of individual components. Innovations and advances in the separation of industrial minerals, metal ores, coal, scrap, plastics, waste paper, refuse derived fuel, light packaging waste and others are outlined in detail. Due to technical limitations of sensors and data processing, many resources with low concentrations, low grain sizes and heterogeneous distributions within waste streams are not yet detectable with state-of-the-art sensor sensor-based sorting technology. Therefore, sensor research also focuses on identifying so-called indicators which mark the presence of low concentrated resources, thereby allowing even higher resource recovery.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Pretz Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hermann Wotruba