Study of charged particles trajectories in free-fall electrostatic separators

The objective of this paper is to develop a mathematical model for computing the millimeter-sized particles trajectories in the free-fall electrostatic separator. The simulation involves the numerical solution of motion equations of the particles subjected to electric and gravitational forces. The air-drag force and the impact of the particles with the electrodes were also considered. The resolution algorithm is implemented as a MATLAB program that uses the results of electric field computation performed with COMSOL software. The model obtained is used to study the factors influencing the quality of the products recovered at the outlet of the separator.