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, it claims.

Bunting is a leading designer and manufacturer 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 UK.

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 the time allowed for the refurbishment was limited to a maximum of 10 days.

The Redditch impulse industrial magnetiser is rated at 50 kW, drawing a continuous amount of DC current from the mains power. Each energising phase lasts for only 10 seconds and generates approximately 500 kJ of energy. The 12 t 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%, Bunting explains. The 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 400 mm, weighing approximately 5 t.

Adrian Coleman, Bunting’s European Engineering Manager, said: “Magnetising is a key stage within our manufacturing process 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.”