hamos: PVC-free PET flakes

Clean PET flakes are a valuable raw material that may be used without difficult for high-grade quality products. But even very low amounts of PVC can contaminate the material and thereby prevent the use of the flakes for high-grade applications – such as for new PET bottles.

It is difficult to separate PVC from PET. Floating-sinking separation of PET flakes in conventional separation equipment does not work due to the difference between the densities being too small. Flotation processes are also not suitable. Separation of entire bottles with the aid of NIR technologies or manual sorting do not work one hundred percent and often leave an certain level of PVC from bottles or other contaminants unidentified.

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The EKS-PET electrostatic separator (photo) used by hamos (www.hamos.com) separates practically all of the PVC from shredded, washed and dried PET flakes and produces a clean PET fraction. The mixture of PET and PVC contamination becomes charged in a tribo-electrical manner. Here, the PET particles take on a positive charge and the PVC particles a negative one. This effect arises by passage of electrons from one particle to another. After charging, the PVC particles are separated electrostatically from the PET fraction in a high voltage field.

Due to the practically complete separation of PVC contamination, the EKS-PET electrostatic separator enables very high PET purity. The PET flakes produced can be used, for example, for production of new PET bottles, high-grade fibres or films.

Furthermore, the EKS-PET separator can be used extremely flexibly. Many additional mixtures of plastics can be separated with the same equipment, for example HDPE/PP, PS/ABS, PVC/PE, PVC/rubber and others. The efficient separation process guarantees fast amortisation, large throughput – depending on the size of the equipment, from 750 kg/h up to 3,000 kg/h - and high purity.

hamos GmbH is showing the EKS-PET electrostatic separator at Fakuma 2006 and ENTSORGA-ENTECO 2006.

Photo: EKS-PET electrostatic separator

Fakuma 2006, 17.-21.10.2006, Friedrichshafen, Hall A2, Stand 2102

ENTSORGA-ENTECO 2006, 24.-27.10.2006, Cologne, Hall 6, Stand 41

hamos GmbH, Penzberg

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