Patent ID: 7905356

Claim:
A method for separation of heterogeneous products included in household waste (HW), wherein household waste (HW) including said products is conveyed to a fractionation vessel containing a liquid, and in that the products are separated in the fractionation vessel, the waste including components, of which at least some are floatable in the liquid, whereby the components at least include first components having a first buoyancy in the liquid and second components having a second buoyancy in the liquid, the first buoyancy being different from the second buoyancy; wherein said heterogeneous products include components from at least some of the following fractions: F 0 : components that are so heavy that they cannot float; F 1 : components that are dissolvable or dispersible; F 2 : components that are floatable with a major part thereof under the surface of the flowing liquid, but close to the surface; F 3 : components that are floatable with major part thereof under the surface of the flowing liquid and reach deeper under the surface than F 2 ; F 4 : components that are floatable with a substantial part thereof above and a substantial part below the surface of the flowing liquid; F 5 : components that are floatable with a major part thereof above the surface; and wherein the method comprises: exposing said components to a first essentially horizontal force (P 1 ) in a first direction (D 1 ) enforced by a flow of the liquid in the fractionation vessel and to a second essentially horizontal force (P 2 ) in a second direction (D 2 ), which is substantially different from the first direction (D 1 ); and the combined impact of the forces (P 1 ; P 2 ) on the components and the different buoyancies of the components causing the first and second components to be influenced by different resulting forces, so as to spread the first and second floating components and lead them to at least two respective collection areas; wherein the heterogenous products include F 4 and F 5 components and wherein the F 4 and F 5 components are affected above the surface of the liquid by forces (P 2 ) applied at different heights above the surface of the liquid.