Regular Article

Optimization of a dual capture element magnetic separator for the purification of high velocity water flow^*

¹ Laboratoire d’Electrotechnique de Constantine (LEC), Université des frères Mentouri, route Ain El-bey, 25000 Constantine, Algeria
² Laboratoire IREENA-CRTT, IUT de Saint Nazaire, Université de Nantes, 44606 Saint-Nazaire Cedex, France

^a e-mail: abdallah.belounis@lec-umc.org

Received: 20 July 2015
Revised: 14 December 2015
Accepted: 4 January 2016
Published online: 22 February 2016

Abstract

In this paper a magnetic separator based on the use of a cascade arrangement of two identical capture elements has been optimized and verified. Such a separator is intended for the separation of fine particles of iron from flowing water at high velocity. The optimization has concerned the search for the excitation current and the distance between the capture elements that permit the extraction of the particles from a water flow in a circular channel at an average velocity u_fav = 1.05 m/s. For such optimization we have minimized the objective function that is the distance between the capture position of a particle initially situated at a specific position and the central point of the last capture element of the arrangement. To perform the minimization, we have applied the Tabu search method. To validate the obtained results experimental verification based on the control of the evolution of the captured particle buildup and the quantifying of the separated volume of particles was achieved.