Recycling equipment from one-stop shop

At this year’s Chinaplas show, German machinery firm Coperion will present key technologies for processing plastics at Booth F 106 in Hall 2.1. The centrepiece of the exhibits will be the STS 75 Mc PLUS twin screw extruder with its increased specific torque of 13.6 Nm/cm³ which allows the STS extruder to achieve up to 20% more throughput with markedly higher product quality, says the firm.

Together, Coperion and Herbold Meckesheim offer operators broad expertise in technology and process solutions for plastics recycling. Since their merger, both companies have continued to develop and optimally attune their technologies.

At Chinaplas, Coperion and Herbold Meckesheim will display a virtual PET recycling installation. Visitors to the booth can peer inside key components of the recycling installation and see for themselves the process-technical details in each process step and the high efficiency of each component.

Other exhibits at Booth F106 in Hall 2.1 include the Coperion ZSK 26 Mc18 twin screw extruder with a C/S-LW-NT28 twin screw feeder from Colormax Systems, a Coperion K-Tron T35-QC quick change feeder shown with a 2415 vacuum receiver for refilling ingredients, and a K-ML-SFS-KT20 twin screw feeder. In addition, Coperion K-Tron will be introducing the ProRate PLUS line of gravimetric single and twin screw feeders to the Chinese market, showing a PLUS-S feeder with refill. A CVH 550 high pressure rotary valve for granulates will also be on display.

For the STS 75, Coperion has raised the specific torque of the STS twin screw extruder from 11.3 Nm/cm³ to 13.6 Nm/cm³. The compounder thus achieves improved product quality and at the same time up to 20% higher throughput in every application. Critical to this level of performance, along with process-technical modifications, is optimisation of the drive’s key components. The new STS 75 Mc PLUS extruder is equipped with a high-power motor and a gearbox designed specifically for the high torque. Proven high-performance materials for the screw shafts ensure full torque transmission from the gearbox to the screw elements.

The higher fill level in the process section is crucial to the improved compound quality that the STS 75 Mc PLUS achieves. It reduces both shear stress and melt temperature and improves mixing behaviour. The result is an extremely gentle product handling at high throughputs. The process section of the STS 75 Mc PLUS is equipped with heating cartridges that generate heat very energy-efficiently exactly where it is needed.

STS extruders combine the advantages of substantially standardised and thus more cost-effective machine construction incorporating Coperion’s technical expertise. In the continued development of the STS 75 Mc PLUS, Coperion has profited from the comprehensive experience gleaned from its high-end ZSK Mc18 extruders. The new STS 75 Mc PLUS’s throughput increase of up to 20% makes it a particularly economical solution. Material costs per kilo drop and return on investment is reached much more quickly.

Coperion and Herbold Meckesheim realise plants for a wide variety of plastics recycling applications, from mechanical processing – shredding, washing, separating, drying and agglomerating of plastics – to bulk material handling as well as feeding and extrusion all the way to compounding and pelletising, such plants cover the entire plastics recycling process chain.

As well, Coperion will demonstrate its expertise in all feeding tasks at this year’s Chinaplas with its high-accuracy Coperion K-Tron K2-ML-D5-T35 Quick Change feeder equipped with ActiFlow smart bulk solid activator and EPC (Electronic Pressure Compensation). The feeder is equipped with a 2415 vacuum receiver for refill. The T35/S60 quick change feeder (QC) on display is designed for applications requiring quick changeover of materials and convenience of fast cleaning. The QC feeder allows for fast removal of the entire feeding module with screws in place for replacement with a second unit. Twin and single screw feeding modules are available.

The ActiFlow smart bulk solid activator offers an innovative method to reliably prevent bridging and rat-holing of cohesive bulk materials in stainless steel hoppers without internal hopper agitation. The smart flow aid applies gentle vibrations to the hopper wall, hereby carefully activating the contained material with the optimal amplitude and frequency, automatically adjusted by the controller based on bulk material flow. It is designed specifically to work with Coperion K-Tron’s line of gravimetric loss-in-weight feeders.

The 2400 Series vacuum receivers provide a high-capacity sequencing system primarily used where larger conveying rates or long distances are required, in applications with one or multiple destinations. They are designed to high quality standards for pneumatically conveying powder, pellets and granular materials for most industries. Conveying rates range from 327 to 6,804 kg/hour. The 2415 pellet receiver will be on display at Chinaplas 2024.

Additionally, Coperion will display the preconfigured size S ProRate PLUS single screw feeder, equipped with a 2410 receiver for refill. This continuous gravimetric feeder is very robust and stands out for its good price-toperformance ratio. The ProRate PLUS line was designed as an especially economical solution for reliably feeding free-flowing bulk materials. Coperion has expanded the ProRate PLUS feeder line with a PLUS-MT twin screw feeder especially for feeding powders.

Subscribe to Get the Latest Updates from IMA  Please click here