MACHINERY | LABORATORY COMPOUNDERS
Right: Coperion has supplied a ZSK 18 MEGAlab
compounding system to the University of Ghent to
develop mixed plastic waste chemical recycling technologies
Fiedler says. Bipolar plates are a core element of fuel cell stacks. Made from graphite-polymer compounds, they lend them- selves to mobile applications due to their low weight. They combine properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity and gas non-permeability with markedly higher mechani- cal capacity than pure graphite plates can achieve. Moreover, they withstand the effects of moisture and acid media at typical operating temperatures over longer periods of time than do metal alloys, Coperion says. However, the company adds that the extremely high fill levels required place big challenges on the process technology. “The high proportions of graphite at concur-
rently low bulk density requires special equipment to feed the mixtures into the extruder and increase the possible mass throughput,” Fiedler says. “In this
project, filling levels of well over 85% by weight are targeted. We want to optimally integrate this difficult material input into the process. Parallel to this, we are also optimising the incorpora- tion of fillers into the polymer, to avoid creating agglomerates and degrading the
polymer during compounding.” IMAGE: COPERION
Improved intake To improve intake behaviour, Coperion uses its Feed Enhance- ment Technology (FET), which is said to be ideally suited to the use of
finer, non-compacted fillers. That incorporates a porous, gas-permeable wall in the intake section of the side feeder, allowing a vacuum to draw the air contained in the mixture out. As a result, bulk density increases and with it the material’s absorp- tion capacity in the side feeder. Coperion has also developed a process-optimised machine concept to homogenise the mixture. Parallel to this, the company is using numerical
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