Collection of micron-sized particles at high velocities in HGMS

The collection of micron-sized, strongly magnetic particles is studied at flow velocities ranging from 21 to 73cm/s in different collector arrangements of a model high gradient magnetic separator. The buildup of Fe3O4particles is compared for different flow velocities, applied magnetic fields and particle concentrations for five different collector geometries. It is found that the longitudinal configuration of parallel nickel wires shows the largest buildup, closely followed by the transverse arrangements and the parallel wires in the axial configuration, while the longitudinal grid has the smallest particle buildup at a given time. At low particle concentrations - where the saturation of the filter cannot be reached during the experiments - a higher flow velocity leads to an increased particle buildup. An increase of the magnetic field has hardly any effect for all concentrations and flow velocities used in our experiments. The results of this research show that the HGMS filter can be used effectively to remove micron-sized, strongly magnetic particles from a liquid flowing through the filter at high velocities.