Apparatus for the separation of magnetizable particles from a fine granular solid

Claim 1

Apparatus for separating magnetizable particles from a flowing stream of material, comprising: a channel including a plurality of vertical walls for directing the stream of material along a predetermined path, one wall of said plurality of walls including a vertically travelling conveyor belt, said channel including an inlet for receiving a stream of carrier medium; means for introducing a carrier medium into said inlet of said channel; at least one magnet system outside said channel adjacent said one wall creating a magnetic field within said channel in a portion of the path having a field strength of at least 15,000 Gauss and a magnetic gradient directed across the path to define a separating zone; injecting means for injecting a charging material, including magnetizable particles to be separated therefrom, into the stream of carrier medium at a point within said channel oppositely spaced from said one wall and downstream of said inlet, the magnetizable particles being drawn toward said one wall by the force of said magnetic field; means for removing at least a part of the carrier medium, together with non-drawn material, downstream of the sparating zone and spaced from said one wall; and means for removing from said one wall those particles which adhere to said one wall including a member for doctoring particles from said conveyor belt;