The Metal-ID separation system: A new approach to recovering non-ferrous metals using multi-frequency metal-detection and machine learning.

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Describe your project in detail, and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This could happen before you start your project. Your answer can be up to 400 words long.This is a feasibility project: We aim to, (1) establish the feasibility of the Metal-ID technology (TRL ~3) in a full, near-to-market separation solution (TRL~7), and (2) obtain commercially-relevant performance statistics. Our tests on a lab-based sensor suggest promise. Establishing true commercial feasibility, and interest from customers, requires a full system, cognisant of material, outlay and operating costs, and tested on large quantities of real scrap material.The Metal-ID technology is an innovative new approach to scrap metal classification, resulting from original research on multi-frequency metal detection by UoM. The technology will create a new product -- an 'advanced' induction separation system that presents a radical departure in terms of design and capabilities from existing induction separators, and threatens to compete with high precision technologies at a much lower-cost. We are the first to demonstrate this technology and we have taken the lead on its development.We have put forward a clear business case. We are responding to a need for improved separation for non-ferrous metals, as legislation, trade-barriers, and market demand for these metals drives-up recycled product quality, and drives down quantities left to landfill. We estimate our technology could increase the value of mixed-metal recyclate by up to 30%, potentially adding £50m to the value of the 250kt material available annually in the UK.This work foments a new partnership. It combines our strengths of research into electromagnetics and instrumentation, with expertise in manufacturing and engineering for magnetic separation, and strong relationships with customers providing first-hand intelligence for assessing market needs and commercial value. Agreements for exploitation are in place between both parties. We have set-out a realistic 18-month timetable for the work, that provides contingencies for technical risks (failure or poor performance), operational risks (work-stoppages, lock-down), and commercial risks (poor value and take-up). The pieces are in place to deliver in the near term a new product which combines UK research with an ambitious UK engineering business, to create value in an important sector and impact the global economy.