Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/K29012/01
Title:	TO DESIGN, BUILD & TEST A HIGH TC SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETIC SEPARATOR
Principal Investigator:	Watson, Professor JH
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Institute of Cryogenics
Organisation:	University of Southampton
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 September 1994	Ends:	31 August 1996	Value (£):	87,442
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The purpose of this research is to build and optimise the design of a superconducting magnetic separator with high Tc coils and a magnetic circuit which is compact and of high performance operating near to the saturation of the circuit in order to supply a high magnetic field to the air-gap. Mineral processing engineers as the grade of the ore decreases, are continually pressing for greater performance from these separators. In response to these pressures the approach taken by the separator manufacturers is to increase the number of Ampere-turns supplied to the iron circuit and run nearer to saturation. This approach becomes increasingly ineffective and very expensive as saturation is approached. This is for two main reasons, firstly, the coils become very large which means the magnetic circuit must be increased in size to accommodate the large coils, but further, as the separator weight increases, there is a large cost miltiplier operating in addition on the transportation, the site preparation and the installation costs. Secondly, the power dissipation and coil cooling becomes a very significant operating cost. By using presently available high-Tc superconducting coils all these problems can potentially be overcome and it is the purpose of this research project to design such a machine and to investigate its operation near to saturation of the iron circuit. Further, it may be possible to supply extra Ampere-turns to existing magnetic separators operating in the field and so considerably upgrade their performance by adding high Tc coils to the circuit.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Impacts
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.soton.ac.uk