Patent ID: 7431228

Claim:
A method for separating the various sorts of particles in a mixture comprised of particles produced by comminuting the grains of cereal grains, including wheat, and are present as a mixture consisting of at least a first and second sort of particle, comprising the steps of: a) moving the particles of the first particle sort and the second particle sort of the mixture along at least one surface of at least one solid material in a first impact area in such a way as that at least one portion of their particle surface is at least sectionally in contact with the solid material surface as they move along the at least one solid material surface, as a result of which the particles of the first particle sort and the particles of the second particle sort become electrically charged in such a way that the electrical charge of the particles of the first particle sort differs from the electrical charge of the particles of the second particle sort enough to enable an electrostatic separation of particles of the first particle sort from particles of the second particle sort; b) in a second impact area, subsequently moving the particles of the first particle sort and second particle sort with the sufficiently different electrical charges into an electrical field between a first electrode area and a second electrode area, between which there is an electrical potential difference, at essentially the same velocity, as a result of which the particles of the first particle sort and second particle sort with the sufficiently different electrical charges move along sufficiently different paths as they travel through the electrical field; and c) catching the particles of the first particle sort and the particles of the second particle sort at a first location and at a second location at the end of their journey through the electrical field, wherein the at least one surface of the at least one solid material is concave in the first impact area; and pressing the particles of the first sort and particles of the second sort in the mixture moving along the concave surface against the concave surface of the solid material as a result of their centrifugal force as they move inside the first impact area; and wherein the particles of the first sort and the particles of the second sort of the mixture are moved inside the first impact area in the presence of a nonconductive fluid; and wherein the first impact area has a rotor element in a casing, is the rotor element being shaped in such a way that, when rotated, the particles of the mixture contained in the first impact area are accelerated through a surface of the rotating rotor element with a radial and tangential component, and are relayed to a concave inner surface of the casing at a velocity with a radial and tangential component.