Plastics recycling reaches new performance level

Ansfelden, Austria, July 2010. – EREMA, the Austrian recycling system specialists, will be focusing on the latest developments and improvements in the field of efficient and economic plastics recycling at the K trade fair in Hall 9, Stand C05.

The new EREMA TVEplus recycling system will be premiered in Düsseldorf.

As a next-step development of the proven TVE extrusion system with high-performance degassing for difficult recycling jobs, the degassing and homogenisation performance of the TVEplus has been considerably enhanced. This system also includes new and improved downstream components in terms of technology, maintenance and cleaning from the hot die face pelletiser to the drying centrifuge.

The possibilities and benefits of EREMA's other recycling system solutions when processing clean production waste up to post-consumer waste will also be demonstrated at the Fair. Tailor-made systems for polyolefins and technical plastics, bottle-to-bottle-PET recycling
systems, inline technologies for the direct production of films, fibres and strapping from PET bottle flake with VACUREMA technology including automatic melt filters and pelletising systems will be presented in detail.

The EREMA subsidiary 3S of Roitham, specialists in components such as screws, cylinders and intake parts for extrusion, will also be at the stand to present a new system for measuring the wear on extruder cylinders and, with the now established LASEX process, screws that are particularly resistant to wear.

Recycling scope extended considerably – energy efficiency increased once again

With the further development of the TVE extruder configuration with the melt filter upstream of the melt degassing extruder section to form the TVEplus technology, even extremely difficult waste materials – including full-surface and multilayer printed packaging films that are increasing in use – can be processed in a single pass to produce high-grade recycled pellets.

Binding agents and contaminates that are always contained in the inks are particularly problematical as they previously only partially broke down at the processing temperatures of the plastics matrix and could not be efficiently removed in the extruder degassing zone.

New design features on the TVEplus extruder, in particular the new extruder screw mixing zone which is situated between the melt filter and degassing station for the melt, ensure that both processing and the degassing of the melt are now highly effective.

The filtration performance is also increased due to improved extruder screw design and allows for lower melt temperatures, making it extremely material friendly while achieving higher throughputs at the same time.

Further developments also open up extended possibilities for the VACUREMA technology, especially when processing PET bottle flakes to produce rPET that is suitable for food contact as documented by many national and international certification organisations.

The newly developed, compact, space-saving inline crystalliser, for example, enables processors to keep to a reliable acetaldehyde (AA) content of under 1 ppm in the recycled PET pellets.

The required IV value, according to the application, can be achieved flexibly in the process through the modular VACUREMA concept with the Basic, Advanced and Prime (IV values similar to virgin PET) technology phases.

All EREMA recycling systems will continue to feature the ecoSAVE technology introduced in 2010. This reduces the already very low specific energy consumption of this recycling technology by up to an additional 10%. Processors not only save energy costs, but they also play an active part in climate protection by further reducing CO2 emissions.

Presented for the first time at the last K show, 3S now offers armoured screws using the LASEX (controlled metal build-up) laser process up to a length of 6 meters and diameters ranging from 50 to 500 mm.

As an example, the armouring of screw threads with the widely used PTA (Plasma Transfer Arc) process achieves hardnesses of around 50 HRC (Rockwell). The new LASEX process reaches 57 HRC, thus increasing the service life of the screws considerably.

Additionally 3S will be focusing on the presentation of wear-resistant cylinders for conical double screw extruders plus a new wear measuring system for conical double screw extruders.