What should be sorted and why?
Low cost production as well as a high level of quality can be achieved in the raw materials processing industry only by optimising and standardising the production process. The raw materials, which are obtained for further processing and refining, are generally subject to substantial fluctuations in quality, which have to be compensated for by optimised preparation. Many raw materials can be processed further economically only after having been sorted and any potentially recyclable parts detected. Geological deposits of raw materials do not normally contain any pure products, so that raw materials which are as „pure“ as possible are usually already conveyed through selective mining of the deposits. Sorting out unwanted materials at an early stage plays an extremely important role in this because every kilogram, which was sorted at an early stage, saves the company unnecessary transport and storage costs later on. Sorting helps refining and an increase in the concentrations of semi-finished goods or to eliminate impurities. This means that sorting technology can help to meet specifications, which are demanded by the customers of manufacturers of semi-finished products.
Sorters made by OptoSort GmbH are able to differentiate between materials such as precious stones, quartz, copper and gold, as well as between minerals and waste and then separate them. This all takes place with the aim of achieving products which are as pure as possible by exploiting mining deposits optimally and also providing the poorer quality raw materials found in the deposits with an acceptable level of refinement.
By using a combination of the latest detection systems and industrially proven engineering technology the physical-chemical properties of the raw materials, such as the spectral response in the spectral ranges from X-rays via UV and VIS to IR, ferro and diamagnetic properties can be used effectively together with criteria such as colour, luminosity, shape and particle size to bring about a reliable and well-founded sorting decision for widely differing materials.