US Patent 10207296 Material sorting system

A material sorting system sorts materials, such as scrap pieces composed of unknown metal alloys, as a function of their detected x-ray fluorescence. The x-ray fluorescence may be converted into an elemental composition signature that is then compared to an elemental composition signature of a reference material in order to identify and/or classify each of the materials, which are then sorted into separate groups based on such an identification/classification. The material sorting system may include an in-line x-ray tube having a plurality of separate x-ray sources, each of which can irradiate a separate stream of materials to be sorted.