MACHINERY | LABORATORY COMPOUNDERS
Right: Buss will launch its Compeo 44 laboratory kneader next year with EV battery
compound development in mind
3D flow simulations (CFD) for virtual and real optimisation of the polymer and filler mixing process. As part of this project, it is also developing an inline quality tool to detect process and product fluctuations. The aim is for regulation of compound quality in real time. Another important area of laboratory com- pounding research is in chemical recycling of plastics. Plastic waste, especially packaging waste, is generally a mixture of materials with a high degree of contamination. Mechanically recycling this material mixture is usually difficult as sorting and cleaning is in many cases neither economically viable nor technically feasible. Chemical recycling is a promising technology that aims to recycle these material streams into chemi- cals, waxes or liquid energy carriers. Coperion has supplied an extrusion system to Ghent University in Belgium for comprehensive research and development tasks in chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste. Coperion de- signed the laboratory system around a ZSK 18 MEGAlab twin-screw extruder, which has been specially configured for chemical recycling of post-consumer plastics waste within a throughput range of 1-10 kg/h. Along with the extruder, the system includes a feeder from Coperion K-Tron, as well as a vacuum unit. The machinery maker says its twin-screw
extruder technology is particularly well suited for chemical recycling of plastics as it allows a high level of mechanical energy to be applied to the material in a very short time due to the continuous surface renewal, intensive dispersion and high shearing along the twin screws. Within around 30 seconds, the mixed shredded waste is converted to a homogeneous, highly devolatilised melt at a temperature of up to 350°C. Further materials, such as catalysts, can then be added and mixed in as needed. Residual water or chlorine from PVC can
Right: CPM is now offering the laboratory- scale RXT as a cost-effective alternative to its CXE model
be reliably extracted via vacuum devolatilisation in the extruder’s process section.
Ghent University is involved in many forward- looking developments in the recycling field. Chemical reaction engineering and the kinetics of chemical reactions are major areas of the research done within its Laboratory for Chemical Technology (LCT). Activities include optimisation of existing industrial processes and development, as well as intensification and scale-up of novel technologies aimed at minimising waste streams and energy consumption.
Reliable scaling The CXE26 and CXE32 twin-screw compounding extruders from CPM Extrusion Group have been developed for formulation development and to support direct scale-up to production machines. Both extruders provide the same 1.55 diameter ratio and torque density of up to 18 Nm/cm3
.
“Laboratory extruders need to operate at very low feed rates, such as 5-10 kg/h, for screening of raw materials, yet also have the ability to run at a higher capacity of 50-100 kg/h to replicate production conditions,” says Adam Dreiblatt, Director of Process Technology. “Flexibility to reconfigure the barrels to evaluate
IMAGE: CPM EXTRUSION 50 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2021
different feeding and/or venting positions for process development is achieved with the tie-rod design of the processing section for the CXE26 and CXE32,” he says. “Screw and barrel metallurgy for laboratory extruders is often not as critical as for production lines, because they do not typically operate 24/7. However, there are specific applica- tions, such as fluoropolymers, where materials of construction must be considered. CPM Extrusion Group offers the widest range of metallurgy in the industry for the CXE series extruders.” CPM Extrusion Group is now also offering laboratory-scale RXT series machines as a cost-
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IMAGE: BUSS
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