Electrostatic separation of dry concentrates how to commercial or self made.

Assembler said:
Anyone use very high voltage to do electrostatic separation of dry concentrates?
There is both DC. and AC. voltage schools of thought on this. Thanks for any input on this topic.
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Say around 25,000 - 30,000 volts of D.C. current should make most gold stick to a plate that is charged longer the any iron materials.
 

Assembler said:
Say around 25,000 - 30,000 volts of D.C. current should make most gold stick to a plate that is charged longer the any iron materials.
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Maybe some dry air blown over the material at the same time may remove a lot of the ultra fine materials at the same time. This ultra fine material would normally electrically cling to the other materials. Think of positive attracting to negative material unless there is a stronger charge going on at some point.
 

Assembler said:
Say around 25,000 - 30,000 volts of D.C. current should make most gold stick to a plate that is charged longer the any iron materials.
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Warning With enough D.C. voltage current will stop your heart and likely kill you.

25,000 - 30,000 volts D.C. is nothing but danger.
This is also what make the electrostatic plate process work. It will be a lot safer to run only dry materials over the plates. Gold will prefer the stronger charged plate over the charge that nature gives most materials unless it is during a volcano type of events.
 

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High voltage won't kill you. It's the current that kills, not static high voltage.
Jim
 

Jim in Idaho said:
High voltage won't kill you. It's the current that kills, not static high voltage.
Jim
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Correct. I have underlined the factor about with enough current.

Thanks for pointing this very important factor as just about every one has experienced the static-electricity charge one can get with say different materials acting like a capacitor and then discharging then touching a piece of metal. Walking across a span of carpet then touching some metal comes to mind here.
 

I just plug mine into a large Russet.
 

Frying different vegetables is a fun thing to do with electrostatic current however will make a big mess that can cover you.

Ever see a tree hit by lightning ..............lol.
 

I don't know if anybody mentioned it, but Keene' drywashers, with the silk fabric, used static electricty, caused by the air moving thru the silk, to make the fine gold particles cling to the fabric. At least that's what they claimed in their ads. I have no idea if they're still making that claim.
Jim
 

Jim in Idaho said:
I don't know if anybody mentioned it, but Keene' drywashers, with the silk fabric, used static electricty, caused by the air moving thru the silk, to make the fine gold particles cling to the fabric. At least that's what they claimed in their ads. I have no idea if they're still making that claim.
Jim
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Correct this is the same principal.

A neon sign transformer is way stronger charge then the silk fabric approach. A electric generator to power the transformer and you have a different way of 'dry washing' all the way down to around 600 mesh. Try doing that with a gold pan wet or dry..........lol.

Some capacitors and rectifiers will get a type of D.C. voltage going on. If you pulse or phase you can start to control what is happening at the plates you choose to use.

I say one electrifying experience..........LOL
Or how to 'charge up your day'............LOL.
 

Picked up a plexiglass tube that is around 11" in diameter and around 30" long from a thrift place. Should be great for putting a copper / brass sheet metal on the outside as one plate. I have a small roll of brass screening around 60 mesh in size that should work for a inside trommel screen plate.

This is a good start now shopping for the expensive transformer and diodes.......lol.
 

I can get a HV neon sign transformer at around $100.00 ea. not much current and around 7500 AC volts.

On the other hand I can get 600ma and 1 amp at around 2800 volts. You are talking from $300 and $675.00 ea. A rectifier is much easier to get for these two transformers.

What do you think?
 

I will answer my question as I found the following transformer:
Prototype Transformer 115/230V AC to 1600V DC* @ 500 Milliamps

Primary: 115/230 volts 50/60 Hz AC DC @ 500mA (after adding a full wave bridge rectified)​

Secondary: 1600 volts​

$239.00 Each Used. This will be much easier to get a rectifier as well.
 

Just go find an old spark coil from cars made in the '50's or '60's. 20,000+ volts, and extremely low current. 1600 volts @ .5 amps can easily kill you. You're talking 800 watts of total power.
Jim
 

Jim in Idaho said:
Just go find an old spark coil from cars made in the '50's or '60's. 20,000+ volts, and extremely low current. 1600 volts @ .5 amps can easily kill you. You're talking 800 watts of total power.
Jim
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Yep you have a point there however I don't think it will charge / activate a very big plate. It would still be worth doing from the standpoint of how the minerals move around.
Kinda like we are talking a little bit about the cutting edge here just from the fact that not many are even thinking about this yet nature does this a lot in different events.

I hate to think about the 2600 volt - 1 amp transformer is a real dangerous killer.

Heck I even have a old big 12v coil laying around......lol
 

The 800 watts of energy is likely needed to charge a larger plates first of all and second the air gap may need to be adjusted for different size mesh materials. Yep you will not find many people who will talk about this as the danger factor is definite and it can kill you.
 

There has been some commercial applications of this being used by the way.

Consulting of books maybe needed here.
 

Safety distances and precautions are also needed.

Attention to proper grounding is also needed.
 

You don't need a lot of power for a static charge. Very little power is being used. No light, no heat. Basically, you're charging one side of a capacitor. The initial flow is the only power consumed, provided it's all DC. No current flows once the plate is charged.
Jim
 

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