Waste Incinerator Bottom Ash Sorting Solutions

Stage 1: Pre-Treatment & Shaping

To prepare the ash for metal extraction, it must be carefully broken apart and sized.

• Uniform Feeding: Raw ash is fed via a heavy-duty Plate Feeder to ensure a stable flow. A Grizzly Screen removes large, unpredictable debris that could damage downstream equipment.
• Crushing & Shaping: The ash passes through a specialized IBA Crusher. This machine performs coarse and fine crushing to physically separate adhering metals (iron/copper) from the melted slag without tangling or jamming.
• Screening & Grading: Tumbler Screens and Vibrating Screens perform multi-stage grading to classify the ash by size, creating the perfect conditions for automated sorting.

Stage 2: Metal Sorting & Extraction

This is the revenue-generating core of the plant, where different physical properties are exploited to extract specific metals.

• Magnetic Separation (Ferrous): Multi-stage Permanent Magnetic Separators strip out the iron scrap, achieving a ferrous metal recovery rate of ≥ 95%.
• Eddy Current Sorting (Non-Ferrous): High-frequency Eddy Current Separators repel non-ferrous metals (like copper and aluminum) out of the waste stream, achieving a recovery rate of ≥ 90%.
• Gravity Sorting (Precious Metals & Heavy Scrap): The remaining fine ash is processed through Jiggers and Shaking Tables. This precise water-based separation extracts stainless steel, heavy copper wire, and trace precious metals (gold/silver) that escaped the magnets and eddy currents.

Stage 3: Post-Treatment & Resource Utilization

The final stage ensures the products are clean, dry, and ready for market.

• Fine Screening & Dewatering: High-frequency vibrating screens ensure the purity of the metal products. A Screw Sand Washer cleans and dewaters the remaining slag, while a Filter Press separates the final sludge from the water.
• Zero Landfill Utilization: The recovered metals are packaged for direct sale to smelters. The remaining cleaned tailing slag meets GB/T25032-2010 building material standards and is sold for making bricks or road base aggregate.

Q1: Why is crushing IBA so difficult compared to normal mining?

A: Unlike natural rock, incinerator bottom ash contains melted slag intergrown with flexible scrap metals (like copper wire and steel rebar). Standard mining crushers will instantly jam or tangle when processing this material. Our solution utilizes specialized "Anti-Tangling" IBA crushers designed specifically to break the brittle slag while flattening the ductile metals without jamming the rotors.

Q2: What is the Return on Investment (ROI) for an IBA Plant?

A: The economic advantages are massive. Because MSW ash is rich in high-value non-ferrous metals (copper and aluminum), and because the remaining tailing slag can be sold as construction aggregate instead of paying landfill disposal fees, most of our clients achieve a full return on their investment capital within 10 to 18 months.

Global IBA Processing Success Cases

GravityMineral has successfully commissioned massive IBA processing facilities globally, including a 1,000 t/d project in Vietnam and multiple 500-1200 t/d plants across China for state-owned and listed enterprises.

We provide comprehensive Turnkey EPC Services from pre-consultation (site planning, equipment selection) to mid-term implementation (manufacturing, installation), all the way through to operator training and lifetime technical support.

GravityMineral — Turning waste incineration bottom ash into treasure and creating new value for resource recycling! Contact us today for a customized quotation.