Charging of mm-size insulating particles in vibratory devices

The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the factors that influence the efficiency of the vibratory devices employed for triboelectrostatic separation application. The experiments were carried out on mm-size disk-like polyamide particles introduced in polypropylene boxes that were subjected to rigorously controlled vibrations. The charge imparted by friction and impact was found to be significantly influenced by the characteristics of the vibratory movements, the residence time of the particles in the tribocharging device, and the number of particle–wall collisions.