Effect of the Magnetic Dipole–Dipole Interaction on the Capture Efficiency in Open Gradient Magnetic Separation

In magnetic separation, the magnetic dipole-dipole (DD) interaction between particles has an important effect on the capture efficiency. By producing transient particle agglomerations, this interaction can considerably speed up the separation process. To take into account adequately this effect in ferromagnetic particle random dispersion, we have developed a modeling approach. The approach is based on the coupling of the magnetic force equation and a local homogenizing model for the material magnetic permeability. To verify the efficiency of the proposed approach on one hand and to estimate the effect of the DD interaction on the particle capture on the other hand, we consider a problem of open gradient magnetic separation (OGMS). We also conducted a limited experimental verification of the transient agglomeration for fine ferromagnetic particles.