The best metal separation
starts with the result

Just tell us what you want. We’ll do everything we can to make it happen. That is the speciality of the Magnetic Separation Technology division of Bakker Magnetics. The customer’s needs are key, not our machine catalogue. What should the final recovery be? It’s the only result that counts. That’s why Bakker starts with the result: to create the best possible solution.

Bakker Magnetics in Eindhoven is one of Europe’s leading companies in the field of magnet technology, with 50 years’ experience to boot. The Magnetic Separation Technology (MST) division develops and produces all types of machines to separate ferrous and non-ferrous metals using permanent magnets. Examples include Eddy Current separators, block magnets and overbelt and drum magnetic separators of various strengths, configurations and frequencies. Bakker also produces the magnets themselves. We launched a joint venture with one of China’s largest magnet factories, enabling Bakker to produce ceramic and neodymium magnets in all shapes and grades, completely custom-made for our separation machines. Keeping things in hand, guarantees optimum operation.

Unique separation requirement
And yet it is not the machines that are key to the way Bakker Magnetics approaches the market of recyclers, processors and producers, explains Ibo Serbest. He’s the Product Group Manager of the MST division and knows his customers’ world inside out: ‘Not one business in this market is the same. One bids on bottom ashes with a view to recovering valuable non-ferrous metals. Another goes for just a fraction pure PET, aluminium or wood, with minimal pollution and product loss. There is a great diversity as well; from the biggest professional processors and production companies to traders and local family businesses. Each customer has its own unique separation requirement. A requirement that we fully understand, as we’re very familiar with their business. We select the most suitable machines from our range and adapt them to perfectly suit the customer’s objectives and processes. This kind of collaboration leads often to completely new applications, which is perhaps the best proof there is to show that we do everything we can to realise the customer’s ambitions. The passion to deliver the best custom-made solution is what makes Bakker Magnetics unique.’

Custom-made solution
Creating a custom-made solution requires an in-depth knowledge and experience of the concept of magnetism. Obviously a done deal where Bakker is concerned, although Ibo and his customers rarely talk about it: ‘They’re not interested in the underlying technology. All they want is that our solution does what it is supposed to do and they simply take our expertise as given. So I can give them all kinds of reasons why it would be better to buy an eccentric or centric Eddy Current, why they should opt for a 36 or 104 pole rotor and why it is not just the magnets that determine the total magnetic power but also the surrounding metals, ultimately, all they want to know is: will this investment achieve the desired result? There can be practical considerations in supplying custom-made products, too. The quality of the recovery, for instance, is determined for the most part by the fraction quality offered. In order to upgrade the fraction, an additional initial separator may well be worth serious consideration. Or perhaps a replacement ECS is too long to fit into an existing processing line. In that case, we’ll convert it into a shorter version – maintaining all the original features, of course. Although our standard products are fantastic, we will gladly adapt them if it suits the customer’s recovery better,’ according to Ibo.

HI Overbelt Magnetic Separator
All Bakker Magnetics products have the robust build needed survive the harshest separation environments. The machines are under constant development to ensure they continue to meet the increasingly higher demands of the recycling market. ‘Here, too, the requirements of our customers are leading,’ says Ibo. ‘They often have a specific need that we translate into a product modification – or even an entirely new machine – using high-quality magnet technology and smart engineering. We recently developed a High Intensity Overbelt Magnetic Separator, for instance, in which very powerful neodymium magnets are lined up with bucking magnets in a Halbach array. As a result, the overbelt magnetic separator has a much more powerful and deeper magnetic field, enabling it to attract small metal particles from greater distances. Processors can therefore maintain the same speed and capacity of supply while having the assurance that even the smallest metal fraction will be removed from the product.’

Stainless Steel Separator
Another product that has put Bakker at the forefront is the latest High Intensity Drum Magnetic Separator, also called a Stainless Steel Separator. Ibo: ‘In the world of recycling, stainless steel causes a real headache. And it’s all the more painful now that China has closed its market for non-separated metal recovery. Processors now have no choice but to separate stainless steel. And we have the machine to do it. Better still, our machine does it better than any other machine in the market. First of all, that’s because our magnet roll has a large diameter. This means that the stainless steel particle remains on the magnet longer which prevents it from escaping. In addition, our machine features wear-resistant, manganese steel housing protecting the drum so that it lasts eight times longer. We developed this machine in conjunction with a Belgian chipboard factory, where it performs with great success.’

Sand and fines
Ibo mentions two final “stars of the show”: ‘Our latest Wet Drum Magnetic Separator for the processing of contaminated soil. We developed an eccentric magnet configuration that enables the magnets to collect metal particles from a wet sand supply in more evenly. This prevents the machine from becoming congested all the time. Furthermore, the magnet configuration is easily set. What also deserves mentioning here is our latest Eddy Current machine; the ECS 104X. This eccentric non-ferrous separator has 104 ultra-powerful BM52 magnets in a Halbach array and a large 460 mm rotor turning at 3,600 rpm. This helps us achieve a frequency of no less than 1.56 kHz. The advantage? The working range is 0.05 seconds. It enables us to separate fines measuring just 0 – 4 mm. Moreover, the machine has a length of four metres, allowing the non-ferrous particles sufficient time to settle.’

The very best result
Our new machines and per-project customisations clearly prove that the customers’ needs really matter to Bakker Magnetics. Upon request, the company even delivers a whole range of non-magnetic components for machines worldwide that customers can fit themselves in the event that urgent repairs are required.  ‘Or we supply a spare rotor, for example, to ensure that the customer’s process need never shut down. It’s always about what the customer wants: the very best result. And we at Bakker Magnetics, create machines that achieve that result,’ Ibo concludes.