Advances in the Theory and Technology of Physical Separation

Dear Colleagues,

The history of physical separation can be traced back to ancient times, when people began to use the physical properties of substances for separation, such as washing gold-bearing placers with water. With the development of the industrial revolution, physical separation technology has been further developed and applied. At the end of the 19th century, magnetic separation technology began to be applied to the field of mineral processing. At the beginning of the 20th century, electric separation technology was also gradually developed. Since the middle of the 20th century, with the continuous progress of science and technology, the physical separation technology has been continuously improved and innovated, and many new sorting methods and equipment have emerged, e.g., high-gradient magnetic separation, heavy medium separation, radiation separation, etc. Physical separation is of great significance in resource recovery and environmental protection, and it has the following advantages: 1. Improve resource utilization: Through physical separation, valuable minerals such as cassiterite, barite, wolframite, rare earth, etc., can be recovered from rocks, improving resource utilization and reducing dependence on natural resources. 2. Reduce environmental pollution and energy consumption: Physical sorting takes advantage of the difference in physical properties of materials and usually does not require the use of a large number of chemical reagents and energy, so it can reduce energy consumption and production costs and has the characteristics of environmental friendliness. 3. Achieve sustainable development: Physical sorting is one of the important means to achieve resource recycling and sustainable development, which helps to reduce waste generation, protect the environment, and also provide support for social and economic development.

This Special Issue invites submissions that include original scientific research relating to physical separation from well-known and/or new localities worldwide. This Special Issue focuses on the following topics: (1) research on gravity separation theory and its utilization in mineral and secondary resource recovery; (2) theoretical research on magnetic separation, research and development of new magnetic separation equipment, and utilization of magnetic separation equipment in minerals and secondary resources; (3) theoretical research on electric separation and utilization of electric separation equipment in resource recovery; (4) particle classification and its application in resource recovery; and (5) other theories and applications of physical separation, e.g., photoelectric beneficiation, heavy medium pre-separation, color separation, etc.

Dr. Dongfang Lu
Dr. Mehdi Safari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• physical separation
• gravity separation
• magnetic separation
• particle classification
• ray beneficiation
• mineral preselection