Industrial magnetizer investment for Bunting
Bunting redesign and refurbish industrial magnetizer at UK manufacturing facility in Redditch
TO meet the increased demand for magnetic separators following a sustained period of sales growth, Bunting have redesigned and refurbished the industrial magnetizer at their Redditch manufacturing facility in the UK. The enhancements make this DC impulse industrial magnetizer the largest in the UK, outside of academia.
Bunting are one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of magnetic separators, eddy current separators, metal detectors, and electrostatic separators. The Bunting European manufacturing facilities are in Redditch, just outside Birmingham, and Berkhamsted, both in the UK.
At the Redditch manufacturing operation, Bunting’s industrial magnetizer charges permanent magnet assemblies used in overband magnets, drum magnets, and pulley magnets. The magnet assemblies are built in an uncharged state and then placed within the magnetizer for charging to create a focused and specific shape of magnetic field.
The nature of this created magnetic field dictates how the magnetic separator will separate ferrous metals and magnetically susceptible materials from non-metallic materials, as in the quarrying, mining, and recycling sectors.
Bunting’s operations team continually review manufacturing processes for improvement opportunities and highlighted key benefits of upgrading the industrial magnetizer. These included significant operating efficiency improvements, which would support the continued sales growth.
The extensive refurbishment involved a complete mechanical and electrical overhaul. However, production demands dictated that the time allowed for the refurbishment was limited to a maximum of 10 days.
The Redditch impulse industrial magnetizer is rated at 50kW, drawing a continuous amount of DC current from the mains power. Each energizing phase lasts for only 10 seconds and generates approximately 500kJ of energy. The 12-tonne magnetizer stands 1.5m tall on a 3m x 2m footprint.
Since the upgrade, magnetization of a magnet assembly requires significantly less ‘magnetic hits’, reducing the energy consumed by the magnetizer by more than 30%. The resultant quicker magnetizing process results in freeing production resource, accommodating the extra demand created through sales growth. The size scope of chargeable magnet assemblies has also increased up to 2,000mm x 1,400mm x 400mm, weighing approximately 5 tonnes.
‘Magnetizing is a key stage within our manufacturing process,’ explained Adrian Coleman, Bunting’s European engineering manager, ‘and with the magnetizer refurbishment we are able to magnetize quicker and more efficiently than previously. The result is increased manufacturing capability and the ability to magnetize larger magnet assemblies.’
