Mechanical method for separating fractions of incinerated urban refuse or similar industrial refuse

In a method for separating components of thermally degraded urban refuse and/or of industrial wastes of similar nature including the steps of primary screening of said refuse, and finally subjecting the primary screening fractions to a wet-process magnetic separation, the improvement comprising the steps of:

• a. immediately and totally subjecting the coarse fraction of said primary screening along a first course to a percussion crushing and shredding operation followed by a magnetic separation operation and a secondary screening, and
• b. directing the finer fraction of said primary screening along a second course and joining said first and second courses to form a combined course and subjecting said combined course to a crushing and flattening operation and further subjecting said common course to a third screening and subjecting the oversize fraction of the third screening to further magnetic separation, whereby there are separately extracted:
• 1. at the end of the first course, the major part of the magnetic metals cleared of all cinders and also non-magnetic metals with sizes exceeding the first course fines and rejected as oversize from the secondary screening of said first course, upstream of its junction with said finer fraction,
• 2. from the oversize fraction of the third screening made on the products obtained from said crushing and flattening operation in said combined course, and as the outcome of said further magnetic separation, both magnetic and non-magnetic metal fractions having a size comprised between the first course fines and the combined course fines, and from the third screening of said combined course, a combined course fines directed to a wet phase separation for the recovery of metals usable for the preparation of earthenware products.