Improved mathematical model of particle trajectories in multimodal electrostatic separators

The multimodal electrostatic separator has been designed to facilitate the feasibility assessment of corona-, tribo-, or purely-electrostatic processes of selective sorting of the constituents of granular mixtures. The versatility of the separator has imposed the development of an equally-agile simulation program for modelling the particle behaviour in each of the operational configurations of the machine. Thus, the paper discusses the numerical models that describe the various specific physical phenomena: corona-charging at the surface of the belt conveyor; induction charging of the conductive particles in contact with the grounded electrode; impact of particles with the rotating-roll high-voltage electrode. An example of conductive and insulating particles trajectories computation is given. The simulated results are compared with the experimental observations.