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The use of magnets for removing ferrous contaminants in an industrial environment first began in the 1940s when Orange F. Merwin developed a flat magnetic product to help farmers trap and remove metal contaminants from their grain chutes. At the time, unwanted or "tramp" metal in the grain flow often created a spark that would ignite the explosive dust causing fires… sometimes with catastrophic results. Orange's early version of today's plate magnet was a huge success and led to the founding of Eriez Magnetics. After more than 60 years, Eriez remains the world's authority in magnetic separation solutions for industry.

Ferrous metal contamination damages process equipment and creates impure product that must be scrapped or sold at less than full value. This metallic contamination may come from a variety of sources. Incoming products may contain contaminants from the transportation vessel used to deliver the product, such as a truck bed, rail car, barge or ship hold. The contamination may originate within the plant due to material processing, grinding, crushing or general abrasion. The problems associated with ferrous metal contamination can be reduced or eliminated by using magnetic separation equipment. Magnetic Separators, available in a wide variety of designs, will remove ferrous material such as nails, rust, scale, bolts, welding rod and other contaminants from dry or liquid products. The proper use of this equipment will reduce or eliminate metallic contamination from the process.

Selecting the proper magnetic separator requires an understanding of magnetic properties, the process application and environmental elements that exist in each specific installation. This guide provides a basic understanding of how to choose the proper magnetic separator for different process requirements. Beginning with a magnet material overview, How to Choose and Use Magnetic Separators covers various types of materials being processed, numerous magnetic separation techniques, application considerations and a wide variety of magnetic separation equipment currently available.