Dewatering line wrings out a variety of plastics
GXJR Series Squeezer: Offered through distributor Southeast Machinery, this new dewatering line from Genox Recycling Tech Co. Ltd., Guangzhou, China, can be used to dry a variety of materials, including PE and PP films and artificial turf.
What’s new? The squeezer, which has been available since spring 2016.
Benefits: High throughput with little noise. The squeezer has been designed to perform with little need for maintenance in part because of its modular design casing.
Line washes and grinds milk jugs
HDPE Milk Jug Recycling Line: Designed, built and installed by Foremost Machine Builders, this custom line washes and recycles HDPE jugs of expired milk. After the milk is dumped, the jugs are fed into a QG-1814W wet grinder from Foremost—the first step in the new line. In this step, water is introduced at the top of an infeed hopper, rinsing the plastic chopped by the wet grinder’s three-bladed rotor as it pushes it through a 0.375-inch cutting chamber screen. The wet grinder has an 18-inch-by-14-inch throat and high-shear, counter-skewed rotor with a 30-horsepower motor. Following the grinding step, the regrind is carried up an inclined dewatering discharge auger, while the water drains out of a screen. At the top of the incline, water is reintroduced for further cleaning, then the material enters a spin dryer. Moving upward through a series of screens, the material steadily loses moisture, thanks to a DB-10 direct-drive blower from Foremost. Finally, the dried material leaves the top section of the dryer through a fill spout that carries it into a gaylord.
What’s new? The line, which was customized and installed in the last few months.
Benefits: Production of clean, dry regrind that can be resold. Once processed, the material contains less than 2 percent moisture. The line handles 300 pounds per hour.
Film washing line wrings out moisture
Mikro-Squeezer: Built to handle waste film products, Hosokawa’s new high-efficiency washing lines are especially suited for performing the final drying step of agricultural film. Two models are available—the MSQ4075, which can process 1,000 pounds per hour, and the MSQ5075, which handles twice as much. Both machines achieve the same degree of drying, leaving a moisture content of 5 percent.
What’s new? The Mikro-Squeezer line, which Hosokawa launched in August.
Benefits: Increased moisture reduction and capacity for more efficient film recycling. The machines can eliminate the expense of additional drying equipment.
Optical sorter boasts improvements
Mistral+: Pellenc has improved its Mistral platform with this new optical sorter suitable for all optical sorting applications, including operations dealing with PET. Film can be fed through the machine at a rate of almost 10 feet per second.
What’s new? The system, which will begin shipping in November. Compared with previous models, the Mistral+ has a new interface and better access for inspection and maintenance. The resolution of its detection system is twice as good as the models it replaces.
Benefits: Improved resolution, easier maintenance and reduced energy consumption. The updated system, which comes with a two-year warranty, features a cleaning platform that allows the machine to be cleaned while in operation. It also is equipped with a dehumidifier, which protects the nozzles by filtering out dirty and humid air.
Optical sorters get upgrades
NRT optical sorters: Featuring the company’s proprietary In-Flight Sorting technology, National Recovery Technologies’ (NRT’s) SpydIR and ColorPlus optical sorters have been recently upgraded. The SpydIR, which is offered with a choice of reflective and transmissive detection, uses near-infrared technology to identify materials based on their molecular content, while the ColorPlus uses imaging technology to sort by color. The SpydIR-R, which performs reflection detection, is pictured.
What’s new? Numerous software and design features for NRT’s SpydIR and ColorPlus sorters. The redesigned sorters, which debuted in the spring during the IFAT and WasteExpo trade shows, feature internalized controls. They have entirely self-contained electrical systems and new software packages.
Benefits: Better control over the materials that are being sorted, thanks to the flight-control design and new shape of the SpydIR and ColorPlus, which make possible the sorting of even difficult-to-handle materials, such as film. Additionally, with their new software, the sorters are integrated easily into factories’ internet of things, allowing constant monitoring and instantaneous report creation. The sorters are easy to install and use.
Modified filters handle electric cables
RAS filters: Fimic has modified its RAS filters for recycling applications involving electric cables. The filters are available in five diameters, with the largest, the RAS700, measuring 3.793 cubic centimeters.
What’s new? Modifications for handling cables made from PVC, which present unique challenges because of their stickiness. To protect the machine, chrome plating has been added, and the size of the scraper used to remove contamination from the screen has been increased. Once the scraper gathers the contamination, a valve opens so contaminants can be removed.
Benefits: Successful processing of PVC. In a recent test at a major extrusion facility, the filter was able to process cables with 20 percent contamination, primarily copper and aluminum. The test was successful using both 200-micron- and 150-micron-sized screens. Additionally, compared with other technologies, the RAS filters allow fast screen changes of 15 to 50 minutes. In one installation, Fimic incorporated two of the filters in parallel pipes coming off an extruder so production could continue, even as one screen was being changed.
Polyolefin recycling equipment series expands
recoSTAR dynamic 215: Starlinger-Sahm’s parent company, Starlinger & Co. GmbH, Vienna, has added to its polyolefin recycling series with this new line. Built with a high degree of automation, the line can process more than 5,000 pounds per hour, using less than 0.16 kilowatt of energy per pound.
What’s new? The line, which Starlinger presented to some of its customers in the summer in Europe. The company planned to install the first of the new size of recoSTAR dynamics at a facility in Spain, where it would be used to reprocess post-consumer EPS.
Benefits: Flexibility and high-throughput recycling, requiring minimal energy in terms of human input and electricity. The recoSTAR dynamic lines can process a wide range of plastics and are especially suited to handle materials that are moist, hygroscopic or very contaminated.
Screen changing technology minimizes downtime
ScreenLync: Parkinson Technologies’ screen-changing technology works on both its own continuous-belt screen changers, known as Key Filters, as well as on other brands. It is available for all filter screen sizes.
What’s new? The time-saving device.
Benefits: Reduced downtime. With ScreenLync, operators easily can hook a new Reverse Dutch Weave (RDW) filter roll to the end of a depleted roll within minutes. With the innovation, operators no longer have to clean out the screen changer before a new screen is installed, and they can avoid the risk of coming into contact with hot areas of the machine.
Optical technology sorts PET bottles
Sortex E PolyVision: Designed for use by recyclers of PET bottles, this new sorting technology analyzes the chemical composition of materials to identify same-color polymer contaminants, including PVC, PE and PP. Buhler Sortex Ltd., London, makes the equipment available through an agreement with its partner, National Recovery Technologies.
What’s new? A patent pending lighting system, which provides enhanced detection of thin contaminants. Buhler debuted the system in May in Munich at the IFAT trade fair for waste and raw materials management.
Benefits: Production of higher-quality recycled PET. According to the company, the technology is a low-cost, high-capacity system. With little operator input, it can help recyclers reduce contamination to below industry standards of 50 parts per million.
Single-rotor shredder/grinder offers adjustable force
Uni-Shear SR300: SSI has upgraded its single-rotor shredder/grinder. The machine, which uses an adjustable-force, load-sensing ram, can handle a range of materials, including hard and soft plastics.
What’s new? The cutting angle between the cutters and the anvil.
Benefits: Improved cutting action and a reduction of wear and tear. With the new cutting design, users can now change the cutters and the anvil from outside the machine. To give users flexibility, it has replaceable, reversible cutters and interchangeable screens measuring from 0.375 inch to 4 inches.
New technology sorts black plastics
UniSort BlackEye: Steinert’s new optical sorter uses a camera system to analyze light reflected off plastic flakes to identify plastics, including PE and PP, as well as other materials, such as wood, glass and paper. A compressed air system separates the materials, with a throughput of about 1,000 pounds of plastic flakes per hour.
What’s new? The technology. Launched in May at the IFAT trade fair in Munich, the system makes it possible to separate black PE and PP.
Benefits: Production of higher-quality material and the recyclability of black plastics and previously difficult-to-process materials. The sensor makes separation into these pure streams possible. The system also can handle products such as thin-walled flower pots that recycling companies would not otherwise be able to process profitably.
Larger rotor feature of new granulator
SMS 100/160-9-2 SB3: Herbold Meckesheim’s new force-fed granulator is designed to chew up PET bottles.
What’s new? A rotor that is 20 percent larger than current offerings.
Benefits: Higher throughput rates. The granulator can handle 7 tons per hour. Its patented screw-fed mechanism has three vertically mounted feeding screws that allow for consistent, even feed rates and reduced power consumption. With the mechanism, the machine can operate quietly, with reduced fines and dust. It produces no material flyback, and its design reduces wear on the cutting chamber.
Explore the October 2016 Plastics Recycling Magazine Issue
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