TECHNOLOGY | PET RECYCLING
Below: OMNIboost Recycling Machine with JUMP polyreactor, MRS Extrusion System, Rotary Filtration Systems and 3C Rotary Feeder
method makes use of PET’s inherent tendency to condense under vacuum in the melt phase. This condensation results in an extremely quick increase in the IV value.”
NGR has four sizes of P:React units, starting with
the P:React 600, which has an output ranging from 300 to 700 kg/hour, through to the P:React 3000 (1,500-3,000 kg/hour). On its stand at K2022, Gneuss showed a complete Omni Recycling Machine featuring a new 3C Rotary Feeder developed for low bulk density materials, an MRSjump 70 extruder, a fully auto- matic RSFgenius 90 melt filtration system and an online viscometer VIS, for the processing of 200 kg/hour of undried and uncrystallised PET reclaim from PET thermoforming. The core of the MRS extruder, which is based on conventional single screw technology, is a central multiple-screw section for devolatilisation. The new MRSjump has a longer, modified version of this section, which Gneuss says ensures both a longer residence time of the material and more surface area exchange under vacuum. “The longer Multi Rotation Section, coupled with a powerful vacuum system operating at 1 mbar, can
Right: At K2022, Engel made thin-wall cups containing rPET on a new high-speed injection moulding machine
be used to boost the viscosity of rPET and to hold it at a stable level in spite of variations in the input material,” says the company. “Therefore, there is no need for any liquid phase or solid state polymerisa- tion.” Gneuss says the MRSjump is especially well suited to recycling PET film waste and fibre reclaim, applications for which it says direct recycling with one single extrusion step was previously impossi- ble due to low IV or variable input viscosities. The company says the new system could help proces- sors wanting to use feedstocks other than PET bottle flake, where demand outpaces supply. An OMNIboost Recycling Machine with a Jump
LSP reactor was operating in the Gneuss technical centre during the show. The Jump can lift the IV value of a PET melt up to 0.95 dl/g. In this unit, polymer passes over several slow turning elements which create a polymer film, the surface of which is constantly renewed. The reactor vessel is kept under vacuum. “By regulating the residence time in the reactor, the vacuum, the fill level and the speed of rotation of the agitating devices, the polycon- densation reaction can be altered to achieve the required product properties,” says Gneuss.
Direct to packaging
Injection moulding machinery companies Engel and Husky have independently been working to integrate PET recycling with the production of packaging. At K2022, Engel demonstrated an injection moulding system – developed in collabo- ration with Alpla – producing small cups in rPET, as an alternative to PP. Engel points out that under current European Union legislation, mechanically recycled PP cannot be used in food packaging (apart from very specific cases). The system was processing a mix of virgin PET
and rPET in a 70:30 ratio, but 100% rPET is also possible. It was operating with a four-cavity mould and in-mould labelling (both from Brink), running with two different types of label at the same time. One was in PET and the other was in PP, which can be peeled off the PET cup after use. The cups have
22 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | November/December 2022
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: GNEUSS
IMAGE: PETER MAPLESTON
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