Selecting equipment: aluminum and non-ferrous metal

Sizing an eddy current separator

A maker sizes an eddy current separator on your material, not on tonnage alone. This page sets out the inputs makers size on, the capacity, widths and rotor classes they publish, and how to get a trial on your own material.

At a glance

Sized on: Size range, metal and shape, moisture, recovery and purity targets, feed width, capacity and layer depth (section 1)
Width from tonnage?: No. One maker's maximums run from 2 to 20 t/h per metre of belt width, by material (section 2)
Widths: Set by each maker; from 300 mm to 3,000 mm across the makers in section 3
Rotor: Chosen by piece size: fewer poles for coarse pieces, more for fines (section 4)
Before you buy: A trial on your own material (section 5)
Tools: Belt feed-rate calculator, RFQ checklist, Bulk density reference
Who makes it: Eddy current makers in the directory
Ask for quotes: Build an aluminum RFQ
Questions: Ask an engineer, answered at Remcon Equipment
Affiliate interest: Remcon Equipment, Inc., the publisher's affiliate, designs and builds conveyors and eddy current separator systems around rotors or complete separators made by others, builds overhead magnet units, magnetic head pulleys and trommels, and resells screens and feeders. The separators sized on this page are among them, and so are the magnets and screens it says go ahead of them.

By [author name, role and employer] · Technical review by [reviewer name, role and employer] · Updated October 6, 2026

1What makers size on

Bunting's engineers size an eddy current separator on five inputs, set out in the table below: the size range of the pieces, the metal and its shape, moisture, the recovery and purity targets, and the capacity, feed-conveyor width and layer depth. Sources: Bunting, 5 key operating parameters, 2020; Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

That list is the nearest thing to a sizing questionnaire found for this guide. None of the makers whose sites were searched publishes one to download, and Eriez's online quote form asks only for contact details, market, product interest and a message. Source: Eriez, online RFQ form, undated. [each maker's own sizing questionnaire: to be requested from its sales team and compared with this list]

Bunting's sizing inputs, and what each one changes (the inputs are Bunting's; the notes come from the makers named)
Input	What it changes	More on this site
Size range of the pieces (Bunting gives 3 to 50 mm as typical)	Makers sell rotors by size class, so the size range picks the rotor. STEINERT asks that the largest piece fed to its fines machine be no more than three times the smallest.	Section 4; screening ahead of separation; fine particles
The metal, and the shape of the pieces: angular, wire or spherical	Throw follows conductivity divided by density: about 13.7 for aluminum and 6.7 for copper (in 10³ m²/Ω·kg) on Goudsmit's scale. Wire and foil shapes separate poorly.	Materials table in the eddy current reference
Moisture in the feed	Moist pieces stick to each other and to the belt. Bunting offers belt brushes for sticky or wet feed.	Moisture and dust
Target recovery and purity	The splitter trades one against the other. The purity to aim for comes from the grade your metal buyer pays for.	Setting the splitter; aluminum scrap grades
Capacity, the width of the feed conveyor, and how deep the material lies on it	IMI says a deeper layer can lower both recovery and purity. Goudsmit defines a single layer as one about as deep as the largest piece, with no piece lying on another.	Section 2; layer depth; belt feed-rate calculator

Sources: Bunting, 2020, and Bunting, product page (inputs, typical size range, belt brushes); STEINERT, EddyC FINES (size ratio); Goudsmit, knowledge base (conductivity over density, sticking); teach4waste (wire and foil); IMI, service manual (layer depth); Goudsmit, EddyFines (single layer).

Steel has to come out before the separator

Eriez says its separator is designed to run with a minimum of ferrous metal, with magnets upstream, and IMI strongly advises one or more magnets ahead of its separator. Steel held in the field superheats and can damage the shell, belt and rotor, and heat damage to the magnets is permanent. Bunting offers primary ferrous separation, by drum, pulley or overband magnet, on the same chassis as an option. Sources: IMI, service manual; Eriez, RevX-E manual, 2015; Bunting, product page.

This guide follows the separator makers' manuals: magnets go ahead of the separator, and the separator is not relied on to remove steel. Placing the magnet: removing ferrous metal before the separator.

The aluminum recovery guide turns these inputs into questions that size the machine, and the RFQ checklist turns them into items to send.

2Capacity per metre of width

Width cannot be read off tonnage, because capacity per metre of width changes with the material. Bunting is the one maker found for this guide that publishes that capacity. Its product page gives a maximum in t/h per metre of belt width for each application it lists, with the models the figure applies to. Source: Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

Bunting's maximum capacity per metre of belt width (Bunting's own ratings for its own models; selected rows, lowest to highest)
Application	Size range	Bunting model	Maximum, t/h per metre of width
Granulated plastic	3 to 10 mm	HIE or HIFE	2
Aluminum dross, screened	0 to 20 mm	HIE or HIFE	5
Crushed light-bulb glass	0 to 30 mm	HIE or HIFE	7
Household refuse, pre-sorted	50 to 200 mm	ECO	10
Scrap frag, screened	10 to 40 mm	HIE or HIFE	15
WEEE	0 to 30 mm	HIE or HIFE	20
Glass cullet	0 to 50 mm	HIC	20
Incineration ash	0 to 40 mm	HIC	20
Scrap frag, oversize	0 to 150 mm	HIC	20
Aluminum dross, oversize	20 to 200 mm	HIC	20
Household refuse, unsorted	0 to 300 mm	ECO	20

Source: Bunting, Eddy current separators, product page, undated, read 2026-10-06. These are Bunting's maximums for Bunting machines. They are not ratings for any other maker's machine, and not a promise for your material. Bunting's page lists more applications than are shown here.

Across these rows the maximum varies tenfold, from 2 to 20. At Bunting's ratings, the same tonnage of granulated plastic needs ten times the belt width that glass cullet needs.

So ask each maker for its rated capacity per width on your material, and what the figure assumes: the size range, the layer depth, and the recovery and purity behind it.

Figures per foot of belt width have also appeared in trade press. The articles could not be opened to check them, so this page does not print them.

Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate, designs and builds eddy current separator systems around rotors or complete separators made by others. Its own sizing rule, the affiliate's practice and not a finding of this guide: [the affiliate's rule for its separators, in tons per hour per width of belt or as a layer depth: shop to answer]

To find the feed rate your belt carries now, use the belt feed-rate calculator. It works from belt speed, the material's cross-section and its bulk density. The bulk density reference gives sourced ranges by stream.

3Widths makers publish

Each maker publishes its own range of widths. The table gives each range as the maker's own documents state it, in the maker's units, with the document's date where it shows one.

Eddy current separator widths, by maker (each maker's published range; alphabetical, not a ranking)
Maker	Widths published	As the maker states it	Document
Bunting	300 to 2,000 mm	Belt widths, by model: HIE 300 to 1,250 mm, ECO 750 to 1,250 mm, HIC 300 to 2,000 mm, HIFE 1,000 to 2,000 mm	Product page, undated
Eriez	40, 48, 60 and 80 in	RevX-E in all four widths; the UHF fines model in 40, 48 and 60 in	RB-780 brochure, September 2026
IFE	Up to 3,000 mm	On its centric models	Brochure, March 2026
Industrial Magnetics (IMI)	24 to 72 in, or 24 to 80 in	24 to 72 in on its data sheet; 24 to 80 in in its service manual	TG-13A data sheet, 2022 to 2023; manual 900505, undated
Magnapower	600 to 2,500 mm	Belt widths across its ECS600 to ECS2500 models	Product page, undated
STEINERT	500 to 2,500 mm	Working widths for EddyC; the EddyC FINES fines model in 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 mm	EddyC page, undated; EddyC FINES page, undated

All read 2026-10-06. Ranges change, so confirm the current range with the maker.

Width is not the only dimension. IMI lists standard lengths of 90 and 144 in, from rotor centre to tail pulley centre, and needs at least 15 in from the belt's upper surface to the ground. Sources: IMI, service manual; IMI, TG-13A data sheet. The RFQ checklist's line position and space items cover the room a separator and its chutes need.

4Rotors by size class

Makers sell rotors by size class. Bunting explains why: larger pieces need a deeper field with fewer poles, and smaller pieces a shallower field with more poles turning faster. Source: Bunting, Maximising non-ferrous metal separation, 2019.

Rotors and the size classes makers state for them (each maker's own figures; alphabetical by maker)
Maker and rotor	Rotor, as the maker states it	Size class stated
Bunting ECO	Concentric, 12 poles, 190 mm rotor	From 20 mm in the model table; the FAQ on the same page says above 25 mm
Bunting HIC	Concentric, 24 poles, 300 mm rotor	From 10 mm
Bunting HIE	Eccentric, 24 poles, 190 mm rotor	From 3 mm
Bunting HIFE	Eccentric, 30 poles, 500 mm rotor	From 1 mm
Eriez RevX-E LT2	Eccentric, 8 poles	Pieces over 1 in
Eriez RevX-E ST22	Eccentric, 22 poles	Pieces of 1/4 to 1 in
Eriez UHF	Eccentric, 32 poles	Material size listed as 3/8 in; fines recovered down to 2 to 3 mm
Goudsmit EddyFines	38 poles	Aimed at 0 to 10+ mm; Goudsmit says it ejects pieces as small as 0.5 mm
IMI, 8-pole	8 poles	MRF work, and pieces of 2 in and up
IMI, 16-pole	16 poles	Pieces under 2 in. IMI's 12- and 16-pole units were first designed for glass cleanup
STEINERT EddyC, pole system 5005	Eccentric	Over 40 mm
STEINERT EddyC, pole system 5009	Eccentric	Over 5 mm
STEINERT EddyC FINES	Fines model; turns at up to 4,000 rpm	0.5 to 10 mm, with the largest piece no more than three times the smallest

Sources: Bunting, product page (model table and FAQ); Eriez, product page (rotor layout, UHF poles) and RB-780 brochure, 2026 (poles and sizes); Goudsmit, EddyFines; IMI, TG-13A data sheet; STEINERT, EddyC; STEINERT, EddyC FINES. All read 2026-10-06. For the smallest piece each model is stated to recover, see the size table in the eddy current reference.

Two things follow for sizing. First, the size range reaching the separator picks the rotor, so the screens ahead of it matter: see screening ahead of separation, and recovering fine non-ferrous metal for pieces under about 10 mm.

Second, a wide size range may need more than one separator. Advanced bottom-ash plants can screen into as many as 6 to 9 size fractions, with a separator set for each. Source: Šyc et al., 2020.

Rotor layout is a separate choice. Bunting pairs its concentric models with the coarser classes and its eccentric models with the finer ones. IFE suggests centric rotors above roughly 20 mm and eccentric rotors below. Sources: Bunting, product page; IFE, The new NANOS eddy current separator, 2024. Other makers use eccentric rotors for coarse pieces too (Eriez LT2 and STEINERT 5005 in the table above): concentric and eccentric rotors puts each claim beside the maker that makes it.

Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate, says on its own site that it buys the rotors for its separators in 12, 14 or 16 in diameters and picks the diameter to suit the piece size and density of the aluminum. That is the publisher's affiliate's practice, not a finding of this guide: how the publisher's affiliate builds one. Source: Remcon Equipment, Eddy Current Separators for Aluminum Recycling, undated.

5Trials on your own material

The makers' figures on this page are their own claims for their own machines, so test on your own material before you buy. Bunting advises a test because waste varies in shape and size. Source: Bunting, Maximising non-ferrous metal separation, 2019.

STEINERT runs four test centres: at Pulheim in Germany, and in Australia, Brazil and the USA. Buyers can trial their own material there at industrial scale, to check feasibility and throughput. STEINERT publishes no sample quantity and no pre-test questionnaire, so ask. Source: STEINERT, Test centres, undated.

Bunting offers laboratory-scale trials at its UK recycling test facility, and lists them among its separator options. Sources: Bunting, product page; Bunting, Maximising non-ferrous metal separation, 2019.

Getting a trial that answers the sizing question

Send material as your line will present it: screened to the size range the separator will see, with steel taken out the way your magnets will take it out.
Say what the trial has to show: the recovery and the purity you need, from the grade your metal buyer accepts.
Ask for results by weight, at a stated feed rate per metre of width, so they can sit beside the capacity you are quoted. Recovery and purity are defined in the aluminum recovery guide.
Ask how much material the trial needs, and whether both output streams are weighed and checked.

6Putting it in an RFQ

The RFQ checklist turns this page into items to send, grouped as throughput and bulk density, particle size, line position and space, recovery and purity targets, and location, testing and timing.

The RFQ builder in the aluminum recovery guide sends your specification to manufacturers you pick from the directory. Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate, is not a recipient.

Remcon Equipment builds conveyors. For the infeed and outfeed conveyors around a separator, it lists what it needs on its quote request page and in a longer guide.

Who publishes this. Recyclers Guide is published by [LLC name], an affiliate of Remcon Equipment, Inc. Remcon designs and builds conveyors and eddy current separator systems around rotors or complete separators made by others, builds overhead magnet units, magnetic head pulleys and trommels, resells screens and feeders, and integrates equipment discussed on this site.

Questions about your line?

Ask an engineer

A question about your stream, your line or this page. An engineer answers it, and Remcon quotes only if you ask.

Ask if:

your metal is very fine, wet and sticky, or wire in insulation
you want a feed rate checked
a figure on this page does not match what you see on your line

Who answers. Calls, emails and messages are answered by engineers at Remcon Equipment, Inc., the publisher's affiliate. Remcon builds conveyors, eddy current separator systems and magnetic separators and resells screens and feeders, so on some questions it sells the equipment being discussed.

Call[phone][hours] Pacific time

Email[email address]

Write a question

Request quotes

Send your specification to manufacturers you pick from the directory. Only the companies you tick receive it, and Remcon Equipment is not a recipient.

Build an RFQ if:

you know your feed-rate range, material and size range
you are ready to choose which manufacturers receive it

Build an RFQ

7Questions

What does a maker need to know to size an eddy current separator?

Bunting lists the inputs its engineers size on: the size range of the pieces, the metal and its shape, how wet the feed is, the recovery and purity you need, the width of the conveyor that feeds the separator, and the capacity, including how deep the material lies on that conveyor. None of the makers whose sites were searched publishes a sizing questionnaire to download, so put these in your RFQ. Sources: Bunting, 5 key eddy current separator operating parameters, 2020; Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

How wide does an eddy current separator need to be?

It depends on the material as much as the tonnage. Bunting publishes maximum capacities for its own models from 2 t/h per metre of belt width, for granulated plastic, to 20 for streams such as glass cullet and incineration ash. At those ratings the same tonnage needs ten times the width on one material as on another. No other maker read for this guide publishes such a table, so ask each maker for its rated capacity per width on your material, and what that figure assumes. Source: Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

How many poles should the rotor have?

That follows the size of the pieces. Bunting says larger pieces need a deeper field with fewer poles, and smaller pieces a shallower field with more poles turning faster. IMI, for example, uses 8-pole rotors for pieces of 2 in and up and 16-pole rotors below that. Eriez uses 8 poles for pieces over 1 in and 22 poles for pieces of 1/4 to 1 in. Sources: Bunting, Maximising non-ferrous metal separation, 2019; IMI, TG-13A data sheet; Eriez, RB-780 brochure, 2026.

Can a maker test my material before I buy?

Some makers run trials. STEINERT runs four test centres, in Germany, Australia, Brazil and the USA, where buyers can trial their own material at industrial scale. It publishes no sample quantity, so ask. Bunting offers lab-scale trials at its UK test facility. Send material as your line will present it: screened, and with steel removed. Sources: STEINERT, Test centres, undated; Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

Does steel in the feed change how the separator is sized?

The separator makers' manuals do not ask the separator to handle steel. Eriez says its separator is designed to run with a minimum of ferrous metal, and IMI strongly advises magnets ahead of its separator, because steel held in the field superheats and can damage the shell, belt and rotor. Bunting offers ferrous separation on the same chassis as an option. This guide follows the separator makers' manuals: magnets go ahead of the separator, and the separator is not relied on to remove steel. Sources: IMI service manual; Eriez, RevX-E manual RM-99, 2015; Bunting, Eddy current separators, undated.

Open the RFQ checklist Find manufacturers

8Sources

Every source below was read on 2026-10-06. Manufacturers' figures are their own claims about their own machines; nothing here was tested by the publisher.

Bunting, 5 Key Eddy Current Separator Operating Parameters, 2020-11-10 (manufacturer). https://buntingmagnetics.com/blog/5-key-eddy-current-separator-operating-parameters. Read 2026-10-06.
Bunting, Eddy Current Separators, product page (model table, maximum capacity table, options and FAQ), undated (manufacturer). https://buntingmagnetics.com/product/magnetic-separation/eddy-current-separators. Read 2026-10-06.
Eriez, Request for quote, online form, undated (manufacturer). https://www.eriez.com/Company/RFQ. Read 2026-10-06.
STEINERT, EddyC FINES, product page, undated (manufacturer). https://steinertglobal.com/us/sorting-systems/magnetic-separation/eddy-current-separators/steinert-eddyc-fines/. Read 2026-10-06.
Goudsmit Magnetics, What determines the separation efficiency of eddy current systems, knowledge base, undated (manufacturer). https://www.goudsmitmagnetics.com/en-us/knowledge-base-efficiency-of-eddy-current-separators. Read 2026-10-06.
teach4waste, Skript Metallscheidung, university teaching material in German, undated (academic, teaching). https://content.teach4waste.com/pdf/de/03_Mechanische-Aufbereitung/Metallscheidung/Skript_Metallscheidung.pdf. Read 2026-10-06.
Industrial Magnetics, Inc. (IMI), Eddy Current Separator Service Manual, endless belt, manual 900505, undated (manufacturer). https://assets.magnetics.com/assets/files/manuals/900505_ECS_Service_Manual_Endless_Belt.pdf. Read 2026-10-06. Industrial Magnetics supplies eddy current separators and magnets to Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate.
Goudsmit Magnetics, EddyFines eddy current separators, product page, undated (manufacturer). https://www.goudsmitmagnetics.com/en-us/products/belt-conveyor-magnetic-separators/eddyfines-eddy-current-separators. Read 2026-10-06.
Eriez, RM-99 RevX-E Eddy Current Separator installation, operation and maintenance manual, April 2015 (manufacturer). https://www.eriez.com/Documents/Literature/IOMs/Metals-Recycling/RM-99-Eriez-RevXE-Eddy-Current-Separator-IOM.pdf. Read 2026-10-06.
Eriez, RB-780 Eddy Current Separators for Nonferrous Recovery, brochure, September 2026 (manufacturer). https://www.eriez.com/Documents/Literature/Brochures/Products/Magnetic-Separation/RB-780-Eriez-Eddy-Current-Separator.pdf. Read 2026-10-06.
Industrial Magnetics, Inc. (IMI), TG-13A Eddy Current Separators data sheet, 10/22 to 10/23 (manufacturer). https://assets.magnetics.com/assets/files/technical-data-sheets/TG13A_EddyCurrentSep.pdf. Read 2026-10-06. Industrial Magnetics supplies eddy current separators and magnets to Remcon Equipment, the publisher's affiliate.
STEINERT, EddyC, product page, undated (manufacturer). https://steinertglobal.com/us/sorting-systems/magnetic-separation/eddy-current-separators/steinert-eddyc/. Read 2026-10-06.
Magnapower, Eddy current separators, product page, undated (manufacturer). https://magnapower.com/separators/eddy-current-separators/. Read 2026-10-06.
IFE Aufbereitungstechnik, Eddy current separators brochure, 03/2026 (manufacturer). https://www.ife-bulk.com/fileadmin/user_upload/ife-bulk/Produkte/Wirbelstromscheider/IFE-eddy-current-separators_web.pdf. Read 2026-10-06.
Bunting, Maximising Non-Ferrous Metal Separation, 2019-12-03 (manufacturer). https://buntingmagnetics.com/blog/maximising-non-ferrous-metal-separation. Read 2026-10-06.
Eriez, Eddy Current Separators, product page, undated (manufacturer). https://www.eriez.com/Products/Metals-Recycling/Nonferrous-Recovery/Eddy-Current-Separators. Read 2026-10-06.
Šyc M., Simon F.G., Hykš J., Braga R., Biganzoli L., Costa G. et al., Metal recovery from incineration bottom ash: state-of-the-art and recent developments, Journal of Hazardous Materials 393:122433, 2020 (peer-reviewed; postprint). https://cris.unibo.it/bitstream/11585/762085/5/S%cc%8cyc2020_postprint.pdf. Read 2026-10-06.
IFE Aufbereitungstechnik, The new NANOS eddy current separator, news page, 2024 (manufacturer). https://www.ife-bulk.com/en/company/news/the-new-nanos-eddy-current-separator. Read 2026-10-06.
Remcon Equipment, Inc. (the publisher's affiliate), Eddy Current Separators for Aluminum Recycling, undated (affiliate's own site). https://www.remconequipment.com/eddy-current-aluminum-separators. Read 2026-10-06.
STEINERT, Test centres, undated (manufacturer). https://steinertglobal.com/services/test-centres/. Read 2026-10-06.

Also linked, on the affiliate's own site: its quote request page and its longer guide for the conveyor half of a line.

Updated October 6, 2026. Next review due [date].

Found an error on this page? Write to [corrections address].