trommel

A miner uses a trommel to separate gravel from ore.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A rotating cylindrical sieve: In mining and materials processing, a "trommel" is a cylindrical screen or sieve that rotates to separate materials by size. It is commonly used to sort gravel, sand, ore, or waste.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The mining operation used a large trommel to separate gold nuggets from the gravel. (A rotating sieve was employed for size-based sorting.)
  • Recycling facilities often employ a trommel to classify mixed waste into different fractions. (The cylindrical screen helps divide materials by particle size.)

Advanced Usage

• "trommel screen": a specific type of trommel used for screening and classifying materials.

  • The trommel screen efficiently removed fine particles from the aggregate. (The rotating cylindrical sieve separated small from large fragments.)

• "trommel effect": the phenomenon where materials are tumbled and separated by size within the rotating cylinder.

  • The trommel effect ensured that larger rocks were discharged at the end of the drum. (The tumbling action caused size-based separation.)

Variants and Related Words

• Trommelling (n, verb form): the process of using a trommel.

  • After trommelling, the sorted material was ready for further processing. (The act of running material through the rotating sieve.)

• Trommel-like (adj): resembling or functioning like a trommel.

  • The trommel-like machine sorted seeds by size in the agricultural facility. (Similar to a rotating cylindrical sieve.)

Synonyms

• Rotary screen: a cylindrical screen that rotates for material classification.
• Sieve drum: a drum-shaped sieve used for separation.

Phrasal Verbs

• • The workers trommeled the ore to extract the valuable minerals. (They passed the ore through a rotating sieve.)

Related Idioms