Many recycling plants find it essential to use vibratory equipment somewhere in the process to loosen, carry out a preliminary separation on, spread and/or size the incoming materials.

 

Examples of processes, which we believe would not be able to operate efficiently without this sort of assistance, include magnetic, eddy current, ballistic, optical-electronic and air separation – all of which are to be found in the recycling industry.

 

One solution is offered by the Mogensen vibratory spreader feeder. This accepts a feed from a relatively narrow source such as a conveyor belt and spreads it efficiently in a controlled manner across the entire width of the following item of process equipment. Mogensen spreader feeders are available to match widths of 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 3m and 4m in the single process line version.

 

In the version which splits the incoming feed equally between two subsequent process lines, total spreads to 8m are available. These feeders are powered by two counter-rotating Invicta rotary electric vibrators mounted so as to impart a linear, horizontal vibration to the machine. The Mogensen equipment range also includes vibratory screens, feeders, conveyors, pegging-resistant, 5-deck Sizers and open-ended, non-clogging grizzlies known as Divergators.

 

All of the vibratory machines are driven by rotary electric vibrators: most feature two counter-rotating vibrators which generate a linear vibration usually directed through the centre of mass of the machine. The smaller, 1m wide single-deck screens, and the smaller feeders, however, are frequently fitted with one vibrator only to provide very cost-effective units. In this case the vibratory mode is circular or elliptical depending on where the vibrator is placed in relation to the centre of mass. A wide variety of screen deck types, including square aperture meshes, longitudinal slot meshes and punched plate, is available to enable a match to be made between the decks chosen and the particular separation problem in question.

 

 The company has experienced a steady increase in business from the recycling sector over the past decade. The industry offers a range of challenging separation problems such as the removal of relatively large items – for example packaging materials – which can cause blockages in some screen meshes, from domestic waste. In such a case the Divergator type of grizzly can be used, sometimes in its static form, sometimes in its vibratory design combined with square aperture screen decks chosen to deal with the smaller non-clogging items in the feed.

 

Within the recycling sector the processing of waste materials from the construction industry has shown the most marked increase in recent years. This includes not only the dewatering and sizing of sand and recycled aggregates, the sizing of wood products and glass but also, notably, the screening of waste plasterboard following the banning in the EU of consigning such material to landfill. 

Mogensen has supplied numerous machines for processing shredded plasterboard, ranging from small single deck screens to 3m wide, 5-deck Mogensen Sizer/spreader feeder combinations. These units have been used to perform simple duties such as the removal of paper and production of coarse grade recycled gypsum, and also the more demanding duties such as the production of multiple fine-grade fractions compliant with British Standard PAS109:2008.  Mogensen equipment is used, for example, to process shredded plaster board at rates of up to 80TPH performing separations down to below 1mm.

 

When it is considered that more than 500,000 tonnes of scrap plasterboard are recycled annually in the UK alone, the environmental benefit is very clear, especially as clean, recycled board is about 97% re-usable in the manufacture of new plasterboard, cement manufacture, the production of bricks and building blocks for internal use and for soil improvement.