CO-ROTATING TSE: FLEXIBILITY IN PLASTIC RECYCLING

CO-ROTATING TSE: FLEXIBILITY IN PLASTIC RECYCLING

PRESENTATION SCHEME Intruduction Extruder design flexibility Process flexibility Advanced Recycling examples

INTRODUCTION Plastic recycling extrusion process is a generic definition that cover a wide range of different possibilities We can face simple re-granulation request or complex compounding or blending processes RE-GRANULATION: - Not contaminated single plastic type industrial scrap easy job!!! - Contaminated waste strong devolatilization & filtering performance required - Multi-plastics waste strong mixing performance required COMPOUNDING: mixing of solid particles in the plastic matrix BLENDING: mixing of two or more different plastics (often not compatible) The last 2 situations are typical when it s necessary to give a new life to an useless plastic waste to meet end-product specs

INTRODUCTION A recycling company that wants to cover such wide range of possibilities offered by the market needs to have a flexible extrusion solution Co-rotating TSE is the most flexible and performing solution for satisfy the plastic recycling process requirements

PRESENTATION SCHEME Introduction Extruder design flexibility Process flexibility Advanced Recycling examples

FLEXIBILITY: MODULAR DESIGN Modular design Different barrels sectors available: - main feeding barrel - close barrel - side feeding barrel - injection barrel - venting barrel Easy re-configuration Easy maintenance Maximun flexibility

FLEXIBILITY: MODULAR DESIGN A lot of different screw elements are available to compose a screw configuration: Conveying element Kneading element Mixing element Screw configuration depends on: 1) Polymer type 2) Filler or fiber type 3) Additives 4) Formulation

FLEXIBILITY: MULTIPLE FEEDING POINTS Possibility to feed solid ingredients in advanced positions (fillers, fibers, additives, polymers) Possibility to feed liquid ingredients in advanced positions (plasticizers, silane, peroxide, foaming agents, ) For solid ingredients side feeders are used For liquid ingredient injectors are used

FLEXIBILITY: MULTIPLE VENTING POINTS Feeding low bulk density solid materials air in the process Moisture in recycled materials Process volatile side products (reactions), volatile contaminats With multiple atmospheric and vacuum venting domes all those volatile components can be extracted from the process final product quality

PRESENTATION SCHEME Introduction Extruder design flexibility Process flexibility Advanced Recycling examples

RECYCLING EXTRUSION PROCESS Fixed variation of the material enthalpy H Good quality Solid conveying Melting Material feeding Dispersive mixing Distributive mixing Venting Metering

PROCESS EFFICIENCY & PRODUCT QUALITY Solid conveying Maximize intake performance Melting Maximize melting efficiency Right melt T for next step Venting Correct solute final concentration Material feeding Maximize intake performance Dispersive mixing Correct agglomerate/droplets size Distributive mixing Uniform composition Metering Generate P in a shortest axial lenght Reserved & Confidential - Property of Icma San Giorgio S.p.A. - 2017 2016 Reserved & Confidential - Property of Icma San Giorgio S.p.A. - 2016

DISPERSIVE / DISTRIBUTIVE MIXING Not mixed Distributive mixing Good shear strain Flow re-orientation Well mixed Dispersive mixing Good shear stress Enough load time

VARIABLES in a RECYCLING EXTRUSION PROCESS A lot of variable parameters in a recycling process!!! Bulk density of the grinded polymer Rheology of the polymer/s Contaminants nature and % All of them have a strong influence on the process performance system flexibility is a key point!

PROCESS PARAMETERS AVAILABLE The following process parameters needs to be adapted to the specific recycling requirements: - shear / elongational stresses on the product - product heating through viscous dissipation - residence time in the different process sections The co-rotating TSE offers the possibility to adjust the values of the above parameters playing with: - screw configuration - screw speed - filling ratio of the screw (extruder capacity) - barrel temperature

SHEAR / ELONGATIONAL STRESSES Shear / elongational stresses are influencing: - dispersive mixing quality - distributive mixing quality - overheating of the product The screw configuration & speed can adjust the intensity of the these stresses 800 1/s 2700 1/s 200 1/s 150 1/s

SHEAR / ELONGATIONAL STRESSES Possibility to reduce the stress transferred to the material using special mixing elements

RESIDENCE TIME Residence time in the different screw elements is influencing: - dispersive mixing quality - distributive mixing quality - overheating of the product The extruder capacity, screw configuration & speed can modify the residence time distribution curve tmin Tmin : dispersive mixing index σ : distributive mixing index σ

RESIDENCE TIME screw configuration

RESIDENCE TIME screw configuration

RESIDENCE TIME operational condition set-up Increasing capacity and screw speed : 1) reduces the average tr 2) makes the distribution narrower

MELT TEMPERATURE HEATING COOLING

MELT TEMPERATURE Influenced by the viscous dissipation inside the product The impact of the conductive heat through the barrel is minimal! Managing the shearing on the polymer control on the melt temperature development Screw configuration, screw speed, capacity Rheology of the recycled material is the starting point for a fine set-up of the above conditions

MELT TEMPERATURE

PRESENTATION SCHEME Introduction Extruder design flexibility Process flexibility Advanced Recycling examples

RECYCLED ADVANCED COMPOUND EXAMPLE PET / HDPE blend PET / PE + 15% glass fiber replacing PA.6 + 30% glass fiber PET / PE + 15% glass fiber + HFFR PET + TPE + 30% glass fiber replacing PA.6 + 50% glass fiber

ECO IMPATTO project 2009 project awarded and financed by Regione Lombardia Green designing of composite products with the use of heterogeneous post consumer waste material Improved appeal quality of the products opens new opportunities for applications where aesthetic aspect is critical Starting material: washed Plast Mix (PP, LDPE, HDPE, paper, metals) not-washed PlastMix (PP, LDPE, HDPE, PET, PA, PVC, paper, metals

ECO IMPATTO project

ECOSHEET-PRO project 2017 project awarded and financed by European Community HORIZONT 2020 TARGET: create an alternative solution to plywood starting from mixed plastic waste and obtain a product suitable for high strength applications in the construction industry Under development..

ICMA & PLASTIC RECYCLING Long time experience in plastic recycling extrusion process More than 70 extrusion lines sold for plastic recycling Projects for granulation and direct extrusion of sheet and profiles

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