Pelletizing recycled plastic is a process that transforms waste plastic into usable pellets.
7 Essential Steps Explained
1. Crushing
The waste plastic is first crushed by a crusher to reduce its size.
2. Feeding
The crushed plastic is then sent to a feeder by an automatic hoist. The feeder feeds the material into a plastic pellet making machine.
3. Mixing and Re-plasticizing
Once the material enters the plastic pellet mill, it undergoes mixing and re-plasticizing under the action of compression and external heating of the screw. This helps to melt and re-form the plastic into a pelletized form.
4. Pelletizing
The plastic material is then fed into a disc pelletizer. The disc pelletizer uses centrifugal force to eject the pellets once they reach the desired size. The pellets are then carried via a conveyor or bucket elevator to a dryer.
5. Drying
The pellets are usually in their wet state after exiting the disc pelletizer. To ensure the pellets hold their final form and prevent issues like mold growth and product degradation, they need to be dried. The pellets are transported to a rotary dryer, where they are tumbled and subjected to heat to remove moisture.
6. Screening
After drying, the finished pellets are typically screened into overs, unders, and on-size pellets. Oversized pellets are crushed down and combined with undersized pellets to create a recycle stream that feeds back to the pin mixer.
7. Variations and Alternative Methods
The pelletizing process can vary depending on the specific product goals and characteristics of the feedstock. Different equipment or changes in process variables can be explored to achieve better results. For example, the use of a pugmill mixer or a rotary drum agglomerator may provide sufficient agglomeration without the need for a disc pelletizer.
Overall, the pelletizing process aims to agglomerate fine solid particles of recycled plastic into larger pellet forms, which can then be used for various applications.
Continue exploring, consult our experts
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