GRANULATORS | SIZE REDUCTION
Below: ThermoPro machines from Rapid granulate skeletal waste from sheet and film thermo- forming lines
profitable by doing that. It’s a win-win for every- one,” he said. Processors are asking more questions than they used to in their discussions with Rapid, said Rimark. Engineers’ answers are based on application knowledge backed up by a network of Rapid test centres in Sweden, Germany and the US to serve customers’ specific application needs. “What Rapid is all about is, first of all we have a fantastic product portfolio, and everything is modular-based. But that is not enough. Even if I sell the best granulator we have to a customer, if it’s not for the right application it will be a bad investment. You need to combine the product with application knowledge. We bring this togeth- er. Because of modularity, every application is to a certain extent unique. Combining knowledge with a fantastic product, we provide a tailor-made solution for the customer.” At K2019, Rapid unveiled what it called “the biggest innovation in slow speed granulation in years”. The OneCut Pro allows injection moulders to adjust the rpm range when granulating at a slow speed from the standard 25 rpm to a bandwidth of 15-35 rpm (plus/minus 40% rotor speed) to help them achieve “optimal quality regrind”. The company explained that knife granulators are mostly used for granulating softer materials and run at a speed of 200-250 rpm, but processors of brittle materials such as glass-fibre reinforced plastics primarily rely on slow speed granulators. These are limited to running at 25 rpm, regardless of the specific material that they are processing, while the OneCut Pro’s FlexiSpeed system enables the processor to tailor the speed to the material type. Rapid said: “Running the new machine at a lower speed of 15 rpm helps to improve the quality of ground highly brittle materials through minimis-
Rapid Granulator says its new FlexiSpeed technology leads to less dust, less noise and less energy consumption in slow speed granulation
PHOTO: RAPID GRANULATOR
ing dust generation. But there are noise reduction advantages too, as noise levels correlate closely with cutting speed. By reducing rotation speeds from 25 rpm to 15 rpm, noise levels can be reduced in many applications by 3-5 dba.” Lower energy consumption is a further benefit.
“There is an almost 100% correlation between speed and energy consumption. If we reduce the speed by 40%, we have also reduced the energy consumption by up to 30%. That is a significant saving,” said Rimark. Increasing from 25 rpm to 35 rpm allows processors to increase capacity by 30-40% in the granulator. The OneCut Pro also features EnergySmart, a new system that Rapid says can lead to a reduction of about 80% in energy consumption. In Rapid Stop & Go mode, the granulator will stop and start in intervals, so there is zero energy consumption and no noise during a pause. When EnergySmart is implemented together with running the machine at a rotor speed of 15 rpm the maximized energy saving is reached, the company says. Also at K2019, Rapid showed its ThermoPro machines, a new range of granulators specifically designed for in-line processing of skeletal waste from sheet and film thermoforming lines. Rapid has developed a heavy duty rollerfeed system which means the ThermoPro can also handle themoform- ers’ start-up cups up to 200mm height in the web. The granulator series, which operates at noise levels below 80dBA, is available as 15 different base configuration machines, making them adaptable to customer requirements. Inline recycling for injection moulders was highlighted at K2019 by Wittmann Group, which can draw on its range of robots, loaders and other auxilliaries for efficient handling of scrap. It said the basic version of a Wittmann inline recycling cell
30 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2019
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
PHOTO: RAPID GRANULATOR
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