J-Flow Air Separator
from JOEST

As a gravity separator, the J-Flow separates heavy parts from lightweight ones in an air stream. It is used for subsequent cleaning of metal fractions (ASR processing) to separate foils, fab-rics, lint, foam, Styrofoam and other light materials without losing to much metal. The operational grain sizes for the process are between 10 and 120 mm and long parts up to 300 mm.

Compact and inexpensive
One outstanding feature of this gravity separator is its small formfactor. The machine resembles a container that occupies a relatively small space. For comparison: A Zig-Zag Air Separator takes up 20 times the space of a J-Flow Air Separator at equal throughput rates. The J-Flow can therefore be easily integrated into existing plants. Installation and commissioning as well as operation control and cleaning are very simple. This lowers the costs from investment to operation.

“We set out to develop a compact Air Separator for simple applications, exemplary for a client of ours, one of the largest metal recycling companies in the US. To achieve this, we analyzed the entire process, as well as all critical parameters such as the air flow and pressure to develop intelligent new features.”, says Klaus Straetmanns, department manager of sorting technology in the JOEST group.

Development tailored to the operator
The sales department, head of engineering and the technical design team of JOEST in Duelmen used detailed demand profiles of operators, analyses and market studies to create a precise image of the status quo. In close collaboration with the JOEST colleagues in the US, they identified potential for optimization. The fans, the wear of machine components and the relation of air volume to pressure, which largely influences the sorting speed, were part of the team’s focus.