Magnetic Separation of Organic Dyes in Wastewater Using Superconducting Bulk Magnets

Abstract

We propose a magnetic separation system using superconducting bulk magnets to effectively separate organic dyes in wastewater. Two key technologies are applied in this system: magnetic seeding and magnetic separation. Magnetic activated carbons (MACs) are used to adsorb organic dyes Orange II and Crystal violet, which serve as magnetic seeds. We set up a magnetic separator by placing an acrylic pipe between the magnetic poles of a face-to-face superconducting bulk magnet for high gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) with the use of a stainless steel filter, composed of ferromagnetic wire stuffed into acrylic pipe. The experimental results show that the adsorption ratios of 99% and the separation ratios of over 97% were achieved at low flow rate for the organic dyes.