Magnetic grate traps free-flowing contaminants

The Eriez Megastrength magnetic grate is designed to specifically protect against fine and tramp iron contamination found in dry and free-flowing food substances.

Developments in permanent magnet technology over the past decade have resulted in significantly stronger magnetic tubes, providing levels of iron separation previously impossible.

The Eriez Megastrength magnetic grate is designed to specifically protect against fine and tramp iron contamination found in dry and free-flowing food substances.

Magnetic grates are constructed from tube magnets which are cylindrical permanent magnets contained within a stainless steel tube.

The permanent magnetic element can be either standard strength ferrite or stronger rare earth, the selection of which depends on the type and quantity of contamination encountered.

The correct type of rare earth magnet can yield very high magnetic field strengths and gradients enabling them to extract the very smallest particle of iron or rust.

However, care has to be taken as some tube magnets, described as being "rare earth", have been found to be weaker than Eriez standard strength ferrite magnets.

The term "rare earth" does not necessarily mean that the tube magnet being purchased is magnetically strong as there are many low strength rare earth magnets being supplied in the market today and many customers are not always receiving the quality of magnet they think they have purchased.

Although the pulling strength or "gauss" of a magnet is important in verifying the strength of the magnet, it is not the exclusive determinant in selecting a magnet.

Good separation is also the function of correct system design.

Eriez Magnetics Europe is a forerunner in this field of magnetic separation and has demonstrated that a good and innovative design matters, particularly in the food industry.

Eriez Magnetics offers food processors a new design of grate magnet, the Easy Clean Grate (or ECG) in response to the changing requirements of the food industry, which is forever striving for increased efficiency and productivity.

This type of grate magnet has been designed to enable easy and quick cleaning of the magnets without the grate being disassembled in any way.

When situated in the product flow, the individual banks of tube magnets sit inside permanently fixed outer stainless-steel sleeves with material flowing over the sleeves.

The tube magnets are attached to a common back plate with a handle.

During production, ferrous metal in the product is attracted to the magnet and held on the surface of the sleeve.

The wonder of this new design of grate magnet is that the ferrous metal can be removed with or without the product passing through the grate, thus eliminating downtime.

Captured ferrous metal is removed by pulling the handle of the tube magnet back plate, extracting the tubes from the stainless steel outer sleeves.

Ferrous metal, held by the magnetic force of the tube magnets, is pulled along the outer sleeve surface until it is over the magnetic discharge chute.

The ends of the tube magnets are nonmagnetic, allowing the magnetics to discharge once the tubes are fully extracted.

The tube magnets are then simply pushed back into place.

The whole operation can be completed in a very short time.

Easier cleaning means that the magnets will be cleaned more frequently, ensuring maximum separation capability and therefore protection for longer periods of time.

For ultimate protection, grates can be supplied with multiple banks of tube magnets, which enable cleaning of one bank of tubes while the others are still in operation, thereby allowing the product to continue flowing.

Having to disassemble magnetic tube assemblies for cleaning can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

Eriez has designed this model to eliminate the need for operators to come into contact with the strong magnetic tubes or to have to manually clean the magnet surface.

Normally, placing a tube magnet inside an outer sleeve significantly reduces the magnetic strength of the system.

It is therefore vital to have pulling strength at a distance.

To overcome this problem, the Eriez Megastrength rare earth tube magnets generate deep magnetic fields within, thus enabling greater separation at distances from the tube surface.

The depth of field is double that of standard rare earth magnetic tubes, giving greater attractive power and enhancing separation of the most difficult iron contaminants.

The magnetic strength of Eriez tube magnets is guaranteed for life except if subjected to thermal or mechanical shock.

All Eriez Grate Magnets for the food industry offer sanitary construction and complete flexibility of design.

Whether the product is passing through a rectangular chute, circular duct or pipe, Eriez are able to offer customers the optimal design solution.

As a further option, Eriez grate magnets can be fitted with an Eriez unit vibrator for powders with poor flow characteristics, eg ground spices, to prevent bridging of the tube magnets and consequential blockage.

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