LASER ANALYSIS SORTING SYSTEMS

The technology

The efficient clean2sort® modules combine laser ablation with LIBS analysis to achieve a complete base element analysis in just a few milliseconds. Surface layers or contaminants on materials have no impact on the analysis.

Laser decoating and laser spectroscopy
Laser pre-treatment

In practice, the accuracy of LIBS analysis strongly depends on the material’s surface condition. Real scrap and metal components often have coatings, segregation layers, heavy oxidations, and other contaminants. These impurities, caused by production processes and usage, often make the LIBS method inapplicable.
For reliable measurement results, it is often necessary to clean surfaces thoroughly or even partially remove surface layers, allowing analysis of the alloy components within the material. Until recently, this cleaning process was only possible mechanically and not automated, resulting in relatively long measurement times, usually performed sequentially or manually.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (libs)

LIBS allows the rapid and reliable determination of a material’s characteristic fingerprint. A high-intensity laser beam is focused on the surface, vaporizing a small quantity of surface metal. During vaporization, plasma light is generated, and its characteristic spectrum reveals the concentration distribution of the alloy’s components.

High-performance laser pre-treatment

With a conveyor belt speed of 3 m/s, up to 12 consecutive ablation passes can be performed. In the case of aluminum, the ablation depth reaches approximately 40 µm per pass, and the clean2sort module completes this operation in less than 6.2 milliseconds. This performance allows the analysis of valuable materials that are heavily contaminated, coated, or painted.

Spectral analysis

The spectral analysis allows precise identification of a metal’s alloy. This enables not only differentiation between metals like steel and copper but also detailed distinction within alloy groups. For instance, aluminum from the 5000 series can be separated from the 6000 series, and even aluminum alloy 6010 can be distinguished from 6016 using the LIBS method.

The product

One system, many functions. The Cleansort system combines proven scrap sorting components, such as air pulse technology, with advanced laser-based analysis methods.

Cleansort technology includes advanced maintenance-free laser technology based on the latest solid-state lasers. The entire system also includes conveyors and selection through powerful parallel air pulse technology.

Metallic scrap, whether new or old, can be fed from a bunker in almost any size class (from approximately 25 mm to 800 mm edge length). The conveying and separating technology ensures transfer to the conveyor belt, avoiding overlaps, and accelerated to a transport speed of up to three meters per second.

In the next stage, high-speed laser scanners measure the surface geometry of individual scrap pieces. This measurement is crucial for determining the surface center of gravity required for the next sorting phase.

Immediately following rapid object recognition, laser processing occurs via the Cleansort module. Cleaning and fingerprint measurement take only six milliseconds, with a measurement success rate exceeding 93% despite the brief duration. The system can perform nearly 30 LIBS measurements in the blink of an eye. During each cleaning and measurement step, pieces travel only about 20 mm. These extremely short processing times enable parallel processing of multiple adjacent parts or the removal of thicker coatings or other relevant contaminants for measurement.

After approximately seven years of technological development, the system has achieved economically sustainable market maturity.

Advantages of the cleansort sorting technology

• High-performance pre-ablation
  The high-performance pre-ablation enables reliable analysis of heavily contaminated or coated materials. Whether galvanized steels, scrap from waste incineration plants covered in thick soot and ash layers, or heavily rusted steels, all these materials can be reliably sorted thanks to high-performance pre-ablation.

• Multivariable material analysis
  For scrap recyclers, the flexible use of plant technology is of particular interest. Thanks to its wide measurement spectrum, the system can switch from sorting non-ferrous metals to sorting steel with a simple calibration and approval. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are possible.

• Variable sorting
  The system can be freely configured: the smallest unit is 720mm w/ 3 modules, and the biggest unit is 1440mm w/ 6 modules.
  The plant can be tailored to specific scrap requirements.

• High throughput with scanning measurement system
  Thanks to two-fraction sorting and the system’s modular and scalable design, high throughput rates can be achieved.

The clean2sort module

The process, developed in close collaboration with Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH (cleanLASER) and brought to commercial maturity by cleansort GmbH, can analyze the quantitative alloy content of a scrap piece in just a few milliseconds.

In the first step, a high-power laser cleans a small area on the scrap piece’s surface. In the second subprocess, the same laser performs LIBS on the previously cleaned and decoated area. The entire process occurs in a continuous flow via a conveyor belt. Thanks to the 3D scanner technology integrated into the clean2sort module, it is possible to follow the component with the laser beam and process adjacent components of different heights.

The close collaboration between cleansort and Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH (cleanLASER), the market leader in sustainable laser beam cleaning technology, has created a solid technology base. cleanLASER’s extensive experience in laser technology enables cleansort to leverage the most advanced laser solutions.

In 2010, the managing directors of Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH were awarded the German Environmental Prize by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt for the fundamental development and implementation of laser beam cleaning technology.

Housing

• Modular design
• Plug & Play
• Temperature control for use in harsh conditions
• Internal performance measurement and system monitoring

Object recognition

Object detection has been adapted to required throughputs and the associated high acquisition and analysis rates.

Optics

Since the high precision of the clean2sort module requires exact positioning, 2D optics are used for beam deflection in the X and Y directions. This allows the scanning of any geometry and compensates for transport motion during processing at conveyor speeds of 3 m/s under the measurement system.

Spectral analysis

To ensure the required measurement accuracy of spectral analysis, maintaining a constant temperature of the spectrometer is indispensable. In addition to the general temperature control of the housing, a highly efficient separate temperature control for the spectrometer was developed. A housing milled from a solid block with its own cooling circuit ensures consistent analysis quality, even under challenging conditions.

Support

In our support centers in Manerbio and Rösrath, we provide the ideal conditions to determine the optimal configuration of our sorting system based on your application and sorting requirements.

The new generation of laser sorting

• Throughput of up to 11 tons/hour
• Conveyor widths ranging from 720 mm to 1440 mm
• Three times higher recovery with an intelligent sorting algorithm
• Highly accurate libs spectroscopy
• Precise information on the composition of sorted parts (drop & eject)
• Customized, tested, and optimized for on-site maintenance and customer requirements

Complete solutions include:
vibrating table, machine, 3d object recognition, clean2sort modules (laser), conveyor belt, pneumatic connection (no compressor), temperature control, hmi

Models

*Plug and Play configuration indicates the system is ready to install and operate without complex setup. Throughput may vary based on material type and feeding specifications.