SEPARATORS

IN TECHNICAL COLLABORATION WITH

MAGOTTEAUX INTERNATIONAL S. A,, BELGIUM

THE STURTEVANT
SD - HIGH EFFICIENCY CLASSIFIER

Sturtevant

A Tradition of Engineering Excellence

SEPARATORS : THE THREE GENERATIONS

THE FIRST GENERATION
Examples:
Sturtevant Whirlwind, Raymond Double
Whizzer, Pfeiffer-Heyd, Polysius Turbopol,
FLS
Drawbacks:
1. Distribution is below the selecting zone. A lot
of material falls down before being selected.
2. No control over airflow and very inefficient
built in fan.
3. Poor cycloning effect in the outer casing:
A lot of fines are returned, cross the stream
of falling coarse particles, are caught and
returned to the mill.
The larger the separator, the worse the
cycloning efficiency in the outer casing.
4. The selection zone is a horizontal ring
delimited by the selection plates. The
selecting action varies depending on
whether the particles hit the outer part of the
ring orthe inner part.
5. Narrow range of fineness adjustment. The
non-adjustable speed separators in
particular will require the removal or
reinstallation of selection blades for each
cement quality.

THE SECOND GENERATION

Examples:
KHD (zub models) O & K Polysius Cyclopol
Advantages:
1. With an external fan and small cyclones,
most of the drawbacks of the first
generation are solved. The external fan has
a better efficiency and can be precisely
controlled.
2. The external cyclones remove most of the
fines from the air going back to the
separator. However, the selecting zone is
still a ring of selection blades with the above

The third generation appeared

in the first half of the eighties
(1984) with Onoda (O'sepa) and
Sturtevant. Sturtevant was already
using the same principle on
separators used in ultra-fine
selection. The results were so
much better that almost every mill
manufacturer developed his own
version:
Sturtevant
O&K
FLS
KHD
Pfeiffer
FCB
Onoda
Polysius
The main improvement
compared to the second generation
is the distribution. It is generally
done on the top of the cylindrical
selection zone. The cylindrical
shape gives more time for the fine

particles to be separated from the

falling material. As a result, very
few fines are returned to the mill
and the tromp curves are better and
have a very low by-pass.
The Sturtevant SD separator is
the result of over 20 years of
research and development. It
combines many technological
features designed to maximize
classification and efficiency
performance at lowest operating
and maintenance costs.
The first patent application for
this separator was submitted in
1974 and the first production
machine was sold in 1984. Ever
since the first installation, efforts
have been made to continuously
improve the machine.

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THE THIRD GENERATION

SD STURTEVANT

Material Feed Chute

Gear Unit Casing

Distribution Plate
(Rotating)
Single Volute Air Inlet
Louvre Assembly
Rejector Cage Assembly
(Rotating)

Fines Chamber

Tangential Air &

Fines Outlet Volute

Rejects Chamber

MECHANICAL FEATURES
Lower power consumption

Single volute air entry

Low pressure drop

State of the art dynamic seal

Proven gear unit

Trouble free rods system

Bearings designed for low maintenance

Easy access

No wear on drive shaft

Easy overall maintenance

State - of- the - Art Dynamic Seal

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Classification Principle

MINIMUM POWER CONSUMPTION

REJECTOR CAGE DESIGN
High efficiency air separation implies the
manipulation of air as a means of separating
small particles from the larger particles that
appear in a closed circuit grinding system. The
only two moving components that act on the air
are an auxiliary air fan (responsible for the
overall movement of air and material
throughout the separator) and an integral
rotating rejector cage (responsible for
screening the larger particles while allowing the
smaller particles to be transported by the flow
of air)
The rotating rejector cage, by nature of the
direction of auxiliary air flowing through it,
produces a "fan effect" which works against the

separator vent air fan. For this reason, the

Sturtevant SD separator cage implements the
use of rods as the rejector mechanism instead
of the blades used by other manufactures, thus
minimizing the "fan effect". The concept of using
rods was not agreed upon without realizing the
effect on the separation process.
As a matter of fact, our lab test indicate that
the separation efficiency of a cage utilizing rods
is equivalent to the blades when making a
product below with a fitness below 9000 blaine.
But most importantly, as the use of rods
minimizes the fan effect of the cage, the power
consumption of both the auxiliary fan and the
separator cage is significantly reduced.

STATE OF ART DYNAMIC SEAL

The Sturtevant SD separator is provided
with a dynamic seal between the rotating cage
and the static fines chamber. The selection rods
are extended below the bottom flange of the
cage so as to be located in front of the seal area,
hereby minimizing coarse product residues.

The effectiveness of the seal is proven by the

excellent residues obtained (less than 5%on
#325 at 3500 blaine, less than 1% at 4000
blaine in the most cases). The seal itself is easily
adjusted by shimming the classifier gear unit
and it is partically maintenance free.

SINGLE VOLUTE AIR INLET

The Sturtevant SD single inlet volute is
designed to ensure an even distribution of air
around the entire circumference of the rejector
cage.
This is the fundamental objective required in
order to achieve high efficiency air

classification. It has been observed that

multiple inlets can lead to an uneven
distribution of air. However, if it were necessary
to incorporate a multiple entry inlet volute, the
Sturtevant SD configuration would easily allow
for it.

TANGENTIAL AIR AND FINES OUTLET VOLUTE

The Sturtevant SD fines chamber volute
design allows the outlet ducts(s) to be tangent
to the fines chamber, thus including a smooth
flow of air and fine material and subsequently

minimizing the pressure drop across the

separator. This configuration allows for both
single and multiple outlet designs.

LOCATION

MATERIAL

High material air loading areas

i.e. fines chamber, outlet ducts and air inlet chambers.

Basalt or
Ceramic (alumina Oxide) liners

Distributor plate
Louvres
Tailings Cone
Rotor Support Posts

1/4" Abrasalloy Steel

Abrasion Resistant Steel (AR Plate)
Ring Liners
Extra Heavy Pipe Liners

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WEAR RESISTANT PARTS FOR THE STURTEVANT-SD

MINIMUM MAINTENANCE
PROVEN GEAR UNIT
The Sturtevant SD separator gear unit
(which includes all required separator
bearings) has been installed on more than 3000
separators.
This number includes the old generation
Sturtevant Whirlwind separators because the
same gear box, spindle and drive mechanism
are used for both designs. When compared to
the Whirl wind design, the SD drive shaft is

considerably replaced by shorter since the

distribution plate is located closer to the gear
box.
The gear unit and V belt drive configuration
allows a higher motor speed for cooler motor
operation. It also allows for standard motor
sizes and speeds. In addition, the gear unit does
not require any external cooling or bracing.

BEARINGS AND DRIVE SHAFT

All bearings associated with Sturtevant SD are
located inside the gear unit casing. Therefore,
there is no outboard bearing which exposes
itself to dusty environment created inside the
separator. When maintenance is required on the
bearings, the gear unit can be easily lifted from
the top of the separator and the bearings
become directly accessible. This represents a
major maintenance advantage over other
separator designs. In addition, since the fines

chamber is located below the rejector cage,the

cage is located closer to the gear unit.
Therefore, a shorter drive shaft is required
which eliminates the need for a lower bearing.
Another advantage of the configuration of the
cage and the fines chamber is that it prevents
the drive shaft from being exposed to the high
speed mixture of the air and fine particles
present in the fines chamber. Thus the drive
shaft is wear free and maintenance free.

REJECTOR CAGE DESIGN

The rods of the Sturtevant SD separator cage
are plain heavy gauge type that can be
purchased anywhere. They can be freely rotated
as dictated by the evolving wear pattern. After
three 90 rotations (at least 4 years of use), they
can be easily and quickly replaced by removing

the separator top cover and the distribution

plate liners. All of the rods can then be lifted
from the top of the classifier.

EASY ACCESS
The Sturtevant SD contains several access
doors allowing entry inside the rejector cage
and the fines chamber for maintenance
inspections. The gear unit, motor, and the
rejector cage assembly can be removed easily
by removing the holddown bolts for the

gearunit support and cover, then lifting the

entire assembly from the top of the separator.
The maintenance for the rejector cage does not
require re-manufacturing of the cage assembly
since the rods are easily removable.

BAGHOUSE COLLECTION AND SEPARATE MILL VENTING

BAGHOUSE COLLECTION AND MILL CONNECTED TO SD

CYCLONE AND SEPARATE MILL VENTING

CYCLONE COLLECTION AND MILL CONNECTED TO SD

ADVANTAGES OF
THE BAGHOUSE COLLECTION
a) Better cooling
b) Better air cleaning

ADVANTAGES OF
A SEPARATE MILL VENTILATION :
a) Better fineness control
b) No balancing of airflow between
separator and mil
c) Higher cooling capacity
d) Slightly lower power consumption
on fan(s)
e) Slightly better efficiency

DISADVANTAGES OF THE
BAGHOUSE - COLLECTION :
a) Takes more room
b) Requires more maintenance

DISADVANTAGES OF
A SEPARATE MILL VENTILATION :
a) Higher investment
b) Higher maintenance cost
c) Higher space and volume required

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POSSIBLE FLOW - SHEET

NEW DEVELOPMENT

AIR SWEPT (ASW) SEPARATOR

A high efficiency separator having specific feature to suit air swept ball mill application is now
designed by M/s. Magotteaux International (S.A.), Belgium and the same is made available by WIL in
collaboration with Magotteaux International (S.A.), Belgium.
The specific features of the separator include:
1) Bottom entry of dust laden air from ball mill exit
2) Cage rotor design
3) Top seal to ensure effective control on separation of oversize particles
4) Wear protection provided on all wear parts.
The design is recommend for air swept mills so as to confine advantages of compact layout and
high separation efficiency.

NEW DEVELOPMENT

AIR SWEPT (ASW) SEPARATOR

1
2
3

1. Motor
2. Reducer
3. Air outlet
4. Rotor
5. Guide vanes
6. Air Inlet
7. Grits Outlet

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STURTEVANT S-D HIGH EFFICIENCY SEPARATOR

NOTE : The above figures are given as guidelines only, and are subject to change without notice. For more precise
information concerning your particular application we request that you forward all the relevant material and process
data. Alternatively, we can arrange to run a pilot plant test using a sample of your materials.

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