To meet the increased demand for magnetic separators following a sustained period of sales growth, Bunting has redesigned and refurbished the industrial magnetiser at its Redditch manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom. The enhancements make this DC impulse industrial magnetiser the largest in the UK, outside of academia.
Bunting is one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of magnetic separators, eddy current separators, metal detectors and electrostatic separators. The Bunting European manufacturing facilities are in Redditch, just outside Birmingham, and Berkhamsted, both in the United Kingdom.
At the Redditch manufacturing operation, Bunting’s industrial magnetiser charges permanent magnet assemblies used in overband magnets, drum magnets and pulley magnets. The magnet assemblies are built in an uncharged state and then placed within the magnetiser for charging to create a focused and specific shape of magnetic field. The nature of this created magnetic field dictates how the magnetic separator will separate ferrous metals and magnetically susceptible materials from non-metallic materials as in the recycling, mining, and quarrying sectors.
Bunting’s operations team continually review manufacturing processes for improvement opportunities and highlighted key benefits of upgrading the industrial magnetiser. These included significant operating efficiency improvements, which would support the continued sales growth.
The extensive refurbishment involved a complete mechanical and electrical overhaul. However, production demands dictated that the time allowed for the refurbishment was limited to a maximum of ten days.
The Redditch impulse industrial magnetiser is rated at 50kW, drawing a continuous amount of DC current from the mains power. Each energising phase lasts for only 10 seconds and generates approximately 500kJ of energy. The 12-tonne magnetiser stands 1,5-m tall on a 3 x 2-m footprint.
Since the upgrade, magnetisation of a magnet assembly requires significantly less ‘magnetic hits’, reducing the energy consumed by the magnetiser by over 30%. The resultant quicker magnetising process results in freeing production resource, accommodating the extra demand creating through sales growth. The size scope of chargeable magnet assemblies has also increased up to 2 000 x 1 400 x 400mm, weighing approximately 5-tonnes.
“Magnetising is a key stage within our manufacturing process,” explains Adrian Coleman, Bunting’s European Engineering manager, “and with the magnetiser refurbishment we are able to magnetise quicker and more efficiently than previously. The result is increased manufacturing capability and the ability to magnetise larger magnet assemblies.”
