A turf infill separation system and method for separating a dry or dried infill

A method for separating a dry or dried infill having a composition of materials, into a plurality of fractions, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a dry or dried infill;
• (b) taking out a sample of the dry or dried infill;
• (c) pre-analysing the composition of the sampled dry or dried infill so as to obtain a first set of composition values corresponding to the composition of the infill, said pre-analysis comprising the steps of (i) separating the infill into a plurality of analysis fractions based on particle size and/or specific gravity by a pre-analysis unit, and (ii) determining the relative content of each separated analysis fraction in relation to the total content of analysed infill;
• (d) providing at least a first screening means configured to receive at least a first set of separation screens, the at least first set of separation screens being configured to separate the infill into a plurality of fractions;
• (e) comparing the first set of composition values of the dry or dried infill with a plurality of second sets of composition values of a database, each second set of composition values corresponding to a composition of materials and to a predetermined second set of separation screens, so as to obtain a correlation coefficient and/or deviation value between the first set of composition values and each of the plurality of second sets of composition values from the database;
• (f) selecting the at least first set of separation screens to be received by the at least first screening means by selecting a set of separation screens corresponding to a second set of composition values and having a correlation coefficient above a predetermined threshold and/or having a relatively low deviation value, when compared to the first set of composition values;
• (g) installing the selected first set of separation screens in the first screening means;
• and
• (h) separating the infill into the plurality of fractions.

A separation system suitable for separating a dry or dried infill, into a plurality of fractions, the separation system comprises:

• a first screening means configured to receive a first set of separation screens, said set of separation screens being configured to separate infill, into a first plurality of fractions;
• the separation system further comprises:
• a pre-analysis unit configured to determine the composition of the dry or dried infill by particle size and/or specific gravity so as to obtain a first set of composition values corresponding to the relative content of each separated analysis fraction in relation to the total content of analysed infill;
• a database comprising a plurality of second sets of composition values, each set of composition values corresponding to a composition of dry or dried infill from a plurality of different artificial turf products and/or second dry or dried infill, and to a first pre-determined set of separation screens for the separation of the infill;
• and
• a processing unit configured to calculate correlation coefficients and/or deviation values between the first set of composition values and each of the plurality of second sets of composition values of the database.