General Introduction

Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS) and Vertical Ring High Gradient Magnetic Separator (HGMS) refer to the same type of equipment. Specifically engineered for weak magnetic ore beneficiation and non-magnetic ore purification, it generates a uniformly distributed background magnetic field in the processing zone with no magnetic field gaps. This makes it ideal for beneficiating fine red ores (particle size: -1.3mm, with -200 mesh accounting for 30%-100%) such as hematite, limonite, and siderite, as well as manganese ore, ilmenite, and wolframite. It is also suitable for purifying non-ferrous ores including quartz, feldspar, nepheline, and kaolin.

The oil-water cooled HGMS/WHIMS integrates magnetic force, pulsating slurry, and gravity discharge to achieve continuous separation of magnetic and non-magnetic minerals. It boasts advantages such as large processing capacity, high beneficiation efficiency and recovery rate, minimal magnetic field thermal attenuation, thorough material discharge, and high intelligence. With the optional Online Cloud Platform Technology, it can realize intelligent automatic operation. Compared with traditional HGMS, Sortek WHIMS incorporates advanced technologies and processes, which enhance operational efficiency, separation accuracy, and tailing rejection rate while reducing maintenance and operating costs.

Working Principle

Matrix boxes are arranged along the rotating ring. During operation, the ring rotates clockwise. The feed slurry from the feeding box flows into the magnetic field and matrix boxes through the gaps in the upper pole yoke. The matrix in the working zone is induced and magnetized, attracting magnetic particles from the slurry to its surface. These particles are then carried to the top of the machine—where the magnetic field is negligible—flushed off the ring, and collected in the concentrate box.

Driven by the combined effects of slurry pulsation, gravity, and hydrodynamic drag, non-magnetic particles pass through the matrix and enter the tailing box via the gaps in the lower yoke. The pulsating mechanism drives the rubber drum head on the tailing box to move back and forth, while the slurry level is maintained above the fixed level in the slurry level box.

For each matrix stack, the flushing direction of magnetic fractions is opposite to the feed direction. This allows coarse particles to be flushed out without passing through the entire depth of the matrix. Slurry pulsation keeps the particles within the matrix in a loose suspended state. Reverse flushing and slurry pulsation work together to prevent matrix clogging and improve the concentrate grade.

These features ensure the effective recovery of weakly magnetic particles as small as 0.01 mm and extend the feed particle size range up to 1.2 mm, increasing the upper limit of treatable particle size.

Oil and Water Cooling Coil Illustration

To enhance the cooling performance for coils operating at 1.3+ Tesla (which generate significant heat), the oil-water cooling method was developed. This method uses a water-cooled plate heat exchanger to cool the transformer oil, and the cooled oil then cools the electromagnet coil. While effective for cooling 1.3T coils, this approach has drawbacks: plate heat exchangers lack durability and require frequent cleaning and maintenance.

Therefore, in 2020, we began adopting tubular heat exchangers to reduce maintenance requirements. Notably, this solution can even cool coils operating at 1.5T or 1.8T. However, it still requires water to cool the heat exchanger itself.

Improvements to tubular heat exchangers focus on boosting efficiency, cutting costs, and enhancing adaptability. The key simplified directions are as follows:

The advancement of tubular heat exchangers is driven by the demands for efficiency, sustainability, and reliability. By integrating material science, structural optimization, and digital technology, modern tubular heat exchangers deliver superior performance while lowering operational and maintenance costs.

Technical Advantages

Advanced Magnetic Circuit Design: Leveraging computer-simulated magnetic field calculations, we have created a highly efficient magnetic circuit with minimal magnetic energy loss, enabling a maximum magnetic field strength of 1.8T.

Innovative Coil Winding Structure: The excitation coil adopts a layered three-dimensional winding design. This allows the evaporative cooling medium to fully contact all parts of the coil, significantly enhancing heat dissipation capacity and ensuring reliable operation.

Efficient Thermodynamic Cooling: Coil cooling based on the thermodynamic phase-transition principle offers high efficiency, maintaining the operating temperature below 48°C with uniform heat distribution and no local hotspots.

Fully Adaptive Cooling System: The automatic circulation system provides excellent adaptability and self-regulation. The magnetic field difference between cold and hot states is minimal, and the coil temperature remains unaffected by the external environment.

Extended Coil Lifespan: Low temperature rise during operation significantly slows down coil aging, extending the service life of the magnetic separator and ensuring safe, reliable performance.

Sealed Coil for Harsh Environments: The fully sealed coil design enables adaptation to various harsh working conditions.

High Separation Efficiency: It delivers excellent separation efficiency and strong adaptability to fluctuations in feed particle size, concentration, and grade.

Excellent Beneficiation Results: It achieves a high ore enrichment ratio and a high recovery rate.

Working Site Presentation