ODOUR REDUCTION | TECHNOLOGY
perception,” concluded Stones. “This enables recycled polymers to be used in more demanding applications, helping to overcome one of the key barriers to circular plastics and supporting the wider adoption of high-quality recycled materials.”
Process steps A solution from Coperion for removing VOCs and unpleasant odours from PCR is the company’s EcoFresh dual-silo system for degassing. In this system, pellets go through a deodourising silo for heating and purging and then through a down- stream cooling silo. It is designed to be used following compounding and devolitalisation in a Coperion ZSK twin screw extruder. “In the extruder, the recyclate is first melted, intensively mixed, homogenised, and degassed. With the help of stripping agents, up to 75% of the volatile components are reliably removed in this process step. EcoFresh then performs the thermal post-treatment and removes the remaining VOCs,” said Jochen Schofer, Head of Sales, Business Unit Recycling, at Coperion. While various types of stripping agents can be used, water is most commonly used, he said. As shown in the chart, total VOCs are significant-
ly reduced after the extruder and further reduced after the EcoFresh deodourisation step. Schofer reported that the system can be designed for small or large scales, with good performance in both. “Thanks to consistent process parameters, the product quality achieved in systems with low throughput can be easily scaled-up to systems with high throughput capacities,” he explained. Twin-screw extruders and the EcoFresh system
are available for testing in Coperion’s Recycling Innovation Centre. Erema launched Volex degassing technology for its Intarema TVEplus technology at K2025. The company reported that the new system, which uses water stripping, achieves up to 40% lower VOCs compared to standard degassing; compared to the input material, VOCs are 75% lower. The company said that the Intarema TVEplus uses a Plus-Zone after filtration, before the degassing section, which provides homogeneous mixing of the water into the plastic melt and results in a highly efficient stripping effect. “The open-pored melt created by the evapora-
tion of the water multiplies the exposed surface area of the melt a thousand-fold, shortening the diffusion paths to a minimum, and allowing VOCs and condensable substances such as limonene to escape efficiently,” the company explained. The company said that use of the Volex technology
www.compoundingworld.com
VOC reduction with Coperion extruder and EcoFresh system Source: Coperion
allows use of higher proportions of PCR in new products.
Another K2025 exhibitor, Zeppelin Systems highlighted its Fresh-Tec equipment for deodouri- sation at the show. The system uses air flushing to remove VOCs.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.caiadditives.com �
www.quarzwerke.com �
https://chromacolors.com �
www.sepsolve.com �
www.ccpe.fraunhofer.de �
https://ikv-aachen.de �
www.aimplas.net �
www.fychtech.com �
www.luxus.co.uk �
www.coperion.com �
www.erema.com �
www.zeppelin-systems.com
July 2026 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38
