Not just good, but even better

With last month's launch of the Finex Separator, Russell Finex claims to have made the first real advance in separator technology for over 30 years.

The company's history includes many 'firsts'. For example, the Finex 22 heavy duty strainer, operating at 2800rpm, is said by sales and marketing director Ray Singh, 'to have revolutionised the straining of viscous liquids and difficult powders on fine meshes.' The Finex 22 was also the first fully stainless steel machine - a construction that is now standard in the food and pharmaceutical industries. But arguably the company's most productive innovation was the Vibrasonic 2000 system.

By applying ultrasonic vibration to the separation screens, this revolutionised the sieving of powders down to 20micron by preventing meshes from becoming blinded by fines. This system has lately received Zone 20/0 approval under the new ATEX directive.

So how does the development of the Finex Separator compare with these earlier innovations? According to marketing manager Rob O'Connell, the new separator offers higher accuracy, higher capacity and quieter running. Designed to handle wet or dry applications, the separator can have up to four screen surfaces, providing up to five predetermined size fractions in a single operation.

Extensive performance trails have shown that at least twice the capacity can be achieved with most materials, and with the same accuracy of separation, when compared with standard separator designs.

One of the fundamental differences from standard designs is the use of standard, off-the-shelf, drive motors, rather than the conventional - and more expensive - vibratory models. The vibrator housing has been specifically designed around a high-mass machined casting. This is fitted with an advanced, adjustable weight system to create a more vigorous vibratory action that raises screening efficiency. The vibrator assembly has been designed to translate the torque produced by the motor into the out-of-balance forces required to run the machine.

According to business development manager Shaun German, the out-of-balance forces of up to 15G are twice as high as other systems. Because of the adjustable weight system, it is now possible to achieve consistent material flow over all four decks resulting in greater separation accuracy.

Rubber suspension mounts make the Finex far quieter in operation than separators fitted with conventional springs. Four rubber feet also contribute to the low noise levels (69dBA compared with a typical 80dBA for standard machines).