Recycling

A customised solution for any challenge

When it comes to successfully producing and processing recycled materials, there are several decisive factors: outstanding homogenisation, targeted and precise temperature control, systematic process reactions, effective degassing, a material-friendly compounding process and effective cooling – all while dispensing with discontinuous intermediate work processes.

• Outstanding homogenisation

  With a Planetary Roller Extruder, it is possible to do an excellent job of compounding solid materials with different bulk densities and fluids with widely divergent viscosities over a relatively short distance in a continuous process without any premix processes. With a unique operating principle involving continuous rolling and a large number of kneading gaps, the Planetary Roller Extruder is especially suited to the material-friendly mixing and compounding of various materials. This makes it possible to achieve a very consistent homogeneity of the extruded material.

• Targeted and precise temperature control

  The Planetary Roller Extruder’s precise temperature control is a key factor in many complex recycling processes.
  In fact, the Planetary Roller Extruder’s temperature control technology is a central component of all aspects of process engineering. By offering as much as ten times the internal energy exchange surface area available in conventional compounding aggregates like twin-screw extruders, the Planetary Roller Extruder is ideal for complex extrusion processes. With its full-surface dynamic temperature control, the Planetary Roller Extruder also makes it possible to carry out the rapid temperature changes that are necessary for triggering or ending chemical reactions. The extensive surface area and internal toothed geometry of the Planetary Roller Extruder and thin walls between the temperature control medium and the extrudate are what make the Planetary Roller Extruder’s outstanding temperature control possible.

• Precisely controlled process reactions

  The Planetary Roller Extruder is the ideal compounding aggregate for precisely controlled reaction processes. The modular design, mechanically configurable process zones, and individual temperature-controlled zones enable the targeted and efficient regulation of individual phases of reaction processes. It is also possible to allow chemicals to react under pressure or to systematically trigger, control and interrupt reactions in individual process zones. Here, a chemical reaction can span multiple process zones as it runs through different pressure and temperature conditions to precisely control the progress of the reaction. Due to its unique operating principle and the enormous bandwidth of possibilities it offers for systematically regulating processes and controlling reactions, the Planetary Roller Extruder is very well suited, particularly when it comes to reactive processes.

• Effective degassing

  Entrained air, gases, vapours, by-products, odour and other volatile substances can be efficiently evacuated at various points during the process. The Planetary Roller Extruder makes it possible to create process zones with a high vacuum of under 1 mbar so that the extrudate can be degassed efficiently. This also offers other benefits – for example, it allows the extrudate to be stored longer since it removes by-products from the material that might otherwise trigger undesirable reactions. Odour and possibly toxic gases are also removed, making a valuable contribution to quality control while increasing work safety. It is all made possible by the ability to precisely coordinate the continuous, self-contained manufacturing process in the Planetary Roller Extruder.

• Material-friendly compounding process

  The key: by separating the input of mechanical and thermal energy, the Planetary Roller Extruder is able to perform particularly gentle, low-shear compounding that does not further impair the quality of the material, something that is particularly important when working with recyclates that are often of inferior quality. The operating principle – repeatedly rolling out the material with low shear – means that there is very little additional stress.

• Effective cooling

  Effectively cooling the extrudate to the required target temperature/viscosity during the compounding process makes it possible to continue processing the material directly without any additional tempering processes. The interplay of the individually configurable variables in the multi-modular Planetary Roller Extruder set-up creates a broad bandwidth of technical possibilities – including cooling the extrudates – that are only possible with the many patented innovations of the ENTEX Planetary Roller Extruder. The individual properties of the materials fed into the process can be accounted for when doing so. Other extrusion systems simply cannot deliver cooling processes in this quality due to their markedly smaller internal surface areas, inability to achieve rapid temperature changes, and harsher material handling.

• Dispensing with discontinuous intermediate work processes

  The Planetary Roller Extruder can also implement recycling processes as continuous compounding processes. This has the advantage of eliminating discontinuous, batch-based premixing processes involving different formulations as dry blends, and replacing these with a reliable continuous direct extrusion process.
  The production of a dry blend is an elaborate, discontinuous process that is particularly notable for the large amounts of energy and labour required. That is why simplifying or even eliminating this procedure entirely has the potential to deliver huge savings.