PELLETISING SYSTEMS | MACHINERY Perfecting your pellets
Speed, efficiency, and the flexibility to handle a broad range of compound formulations that include high filler loadings and recycled content are prime requirements for a modern pelletiser, writes Mark Holmes
The needs of the compounding industry are chang- ing and manufacturers of pelletising systems are responding to that, adapting product offerings to satisfy key user demands such as the need to more effectively handle recycled and difficult-to-pelletise polymers. The latest equipment innovations also target the need for greater flexibility, faster change- overs and higher levels of automation. Interest in recycled product is identified as a key
global trend by Maag Group, which brings together the Gala, Reduction Engineering, Sheer and Automatik brands. Society is becoming more environmentally-aware and the company reports that, after a strong three-year period for pelletising systems for virgin polymers, it now sees a growing requirement for recycling equipment. It also identifies an increasing market focus on pelletising solutions for special engineering thermoplastics and high-performance polymers. Maag says compounders are also looking for increased flexibility and more automation. “No-
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body wants to limit their production possibilities tomorrow with the equipment they purchase today, because we do not know what the market will be like in one or two-years’ time,” says Product Manager Alexander Helm. “On the other hand, we are also aiming to be
more efficient at the same time. This trend high- lights the need for fully automated pelletising systems, which are unaffected by upstream process errors, require only a low level of manual mainte- nance work and therefore reduce downtime to a minimum,” he says. Helm says that the principle of plastics pelletis- ing has not changed greatly over the years and equipment has improved largely through a process of continuous improvement. “Nevertheless, we still need new ideas completely detached from existing principles to solve problem applications, such as pelletising of extremely soft or low viscosity polymers and high temperature polymers without defects,” he says.
Main image: More challeng- ing formula- tions and shorter product runs make pelletiser selection an increasingly important consideration
� January/February 2021 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 41
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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