Experimental Investigation of Electrostatic Separators of Plastic Particles using Different Charging Devices

Abstract Tribo-electrostatic separation is a clean technology that enables the recycling of plastics contained in granular waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). The granules are first charged using a tribocharging device and then separated in a horizontal intense electric field generated between two vertical electrodes energized with two high-voltage supplies of opposite polarities. The aim of this paper is to perform a comparison between three different tribocharging devices commonly used: the fluidized bed, the static charger, and the tribo-cyclone. The study was carried out using the same granular sample comprising 50% PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) and 50% HDPE (High-density polyethylene) particles of 1–2 mm average granulometric size. In spite that particles acquire higher electric charge using the cyclone device, separation efficiency is better with the fluidized bed device. Keywords: plastic particlesrecyclingtribo-electrostatic separatorWEEE Notes Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lsst.