Optical Tracking of Charged Particle Distributions

The objective of the research was to contribute to the design of an industrial e1ectrostatic separator for the reclamation of plastic. IR the separator, the plastic material is shredded, charged by triboelectrification, and an electrostatic method is used to separate plastic particles into reusable levels of purity according to their charge. The research was focused on the implementation of an optical tracking system for the particles in the separator, and on implementing a computer control of the plastic separator system. The optical tracking system was implemented wîth a real-time feedback display and control, used for the monitoring of the spatial distribution of hee falling charged particles of plastic. An industrial prototype was built using a 1inea.r may of sixteen lasers and detectors, which were paired and aligned on an diiminuni time. The data provided by the system are related to the physical interference of the particles, whether single or conglomerated, with the collimated laser beam. An IBM class personal computer was used for the red-the feedback display and for control of the data supplied by an embedded microcontroller, running a program developed as an Object-Oriented Java application. Laboratory results indicated that the optical tracking system was capable of detecting particle frequencies of up to 3.3 kHz per laser-detector pair. Pilot plant industrial research combined the efficacy of the optîcd tracking system. The fluctuations in the charged particle frequency data, which were mapped on the graphic user interface, are processed by averaging the distribution data and applying a sensitivity parameter, both of which are real-the adjustable by the end-user. The flexibility of the programming allows the system to be adapted in full-scale industrial installations of different sizes