A waste metal sorting system using LIBS classification

Abstract

In order to develop a waste metal sorting using LIBS classification, a sensing system and a pneumatic system are developed. The first is constructed to obtain the 3D geometrical profiles of metal scraps for positioning of the laser beam to a flat and uncontaminated location in the metal scraps. A triangulation principle based sensor is developed which has little blind spot. Secondly, after the metal scraps are classified by analyzing the plasma at the LIBS part, they are sorted using a pneumatic system composed of a compressor, valves, and nozzles for flowing the compressed air to metal scraps to be sorted in different storage tanks. A feed-forward control method is proposed in which the fluid resistance is varied by changing the number of nozzles, which results in flow control.