CXRT 6 X-ray sorting system

Overview

Feed material is supplied to a vibrating chute that separates individual rocks before they fall onto a horizontal belt and are supplied to an X-ray analyzing gate. Images are taken by the X-ray analyzer under dynamic conditions and the control system, based on an industrial PC, runs a separation algorithm using selected separation criteria. Each particle is identified in terms of its dimensions, shape and structure, and its position on the conveyor is registered. Image processing results can be displayed as a number of parameters describing material properties, including material colour and internal structure, and there are over 50 parameters such as diameter, perimeter, centre of mass, moment of inertia, particle orientation and elongation factor used for particle shape identification. Additional combinations of these parameters can be used for distinguishing particles of interest. Each particle's specified position and size enable a rejecting mechanism (air nozzles) to separate them from the material stream. The CXRT series applies different X-ray energies for material characterisation and provides digital filtration methods including geometrical parameters, morphology analysis, FFT filtration, shape matching, colour matching, colour pattern matching and X-ray response pattern matching. The system uses an intelligent decision-making architecture with three levels — "Unconditioned response" for identifying obvious particles without advanced computation; accurate analysis using primary features (density, size, X-ray attenuation); and complex analysis using all available information for chosen particles. Advanced Rejection Control is a separate FPGA-based system and the platform offers flexibility for different configurations. The CXRT 6 X-ray sorting system sorts feed material by analyzing individual rocks or particles on a conveyor with X-ray imaging under dynamic conditions and registering each particle's position and measured properties. Registered particle parameters and positions enable targeted removal of selected particles from the material stream using a rejecting mechanism (air nozzles). Image processing results presented as multiple parameters, including over 50 shape and property descriptors, are available to support the system's separation decisions.