New Technique for Cleaning of Plastic Regrind Materials – Kongskilde’s Air Wash system

Introduction of the Air Wash system

Rising prices of plastic materials make it economical to reuse as much plastic material as possible. At the same time, the reuse of plastic materials brings benefits for the environment. The contamination with dust or light particles though, makes it more difficult to reuse the regrinds, and therefore it is necessary to consider adopting an efficient cleaning system.

Kongskilde has already developed and succesfully implemented effective system solutions for cleaning of regrind from dust and small particles in the past (KIA separation systems). The Kongskilde Air Wash is a new system with new approach, designed for combined conveying and cleaning plastic regrind materials. It uses two-step cleaning in order to gain high efficiency. The product is made up of Kongskilde’s well-known components, e.g. blowers, rotary valves, cyclones and pipe components, and combines the best qualities from Kongskilde’s large programme of industrial equipment along with new technology.

The Air Wash system has a heavy blower, which is used for conveying the plastic regrind materials from e.g. a granulator to the special Air Wash cyclone, in which high percentage of the dust and light particles are removed from the material. While dust is conveyed through the top of the cyclone to e.g. a filter, the cleaned material (regrind) leaves the Air Wash system through a rotary valve mounted directly under the cyclone. After the rotary valve, the material passes through a system of cascades for further cleaning, thus ensuring very high efficiency. After this two-step separation process, the material is ready to be conveyed into the production process.

The light particles, dust and strips be¬ing cleaned from the plastic material are blown to a dustproof container, while the conveying air leaves the sys¬tem through a filter (accessory).

The Kongskilde Air Wash system is built up by modular components for easy installation in an existing produc¬tion plant. Materials being suitable for handling in the Air Wash system are regrind materials from e.g. PP , PET, PE, HDPE, Nylon, ABS, carpets (fibres), rubber, ...

The Air Wash system provides these benefits:

• an improved quality of the recycled material
• a more clean production environment
• less maintenance
• reduced process costs
• environmental advantages of reuse

Reduction of Costs

The new Air Wash series is available as a modular solution making it possible to install it in an existing production flow. The conveying of the raw material to the cleaning unit goes through a pipe system, utilizing modular components, in order to be adapted to all production layouts. The raw material does not pass through rotating parts on its way to the cleaning unit, which reduces the generation of additional fines and dust and requires less maintenance.

By combining the Air Wash system with an existing production system, the company saves time, and the production costs are reduced compared to traditional production methods. The cleaned raw material assists in the reduction of production material costs by allowing re-use of the materials. An additional benefit of clean raw materials is less dust in the surroundings and thereby a more clean production environment.

The Air Wash system helps to reduce costs as:

• it is a solid construction with long life time
• it only has few movable components and other wearing parts
• it gives an efficient two-step cleaning of the recycled material
• it is ideal for conveyance from granulators, mixers and other process equipment and secures a uniform product.

High Capacities 

Kongskilde’s Air Wash series consists of 3 different systems. These systems have cleaning capacities from 200 - 900 kg per hour. If higher capacities are necessary, Kongskilde also has solutions for this.

The capacity of the Air Wash system is up to 3000 m3 air per hour. This means that suction from e.g. a grinder will cool both the grinder and the plastic material, and thereby a further working function is obtained by using the Air Wash technology.

The idea behind the new Air Wash system is to ensure an ideal solution for conveying and separation of light particles and dust in e.g. plastic regrind materials, plastic pellets and other granular material. The content of light particles and dust in the raw material will always reduce the use of the raw material and the quality of the finished product. Therefore, Kongskilde sees great possibilities in the Air Wash system.

For more information please visit  www.caspro.sk, or contact us at caspro@caspro.sk