Rieter Hosts World’s PET Experts

"PET Direct Crystallization for Virgin and Recycling Applications" was the heading for this year’s Rieter-Automatik Symposium (www.pelletizing.com). Renowned experts gathered in Germany on 21 and 22 June to share the latest information on technologies, trends, methods and applications for the production, processing and recycling of PET. The conference program concluded with a live demonstration of new technologies in Rieter’s pelletizing laboratory.

Audience of experts, growing market for PET
With around 100 visitors from over 20 countries attending (Photo), Rieter brought many of the world’s PET experts together for this highly successful event, with particular enthusiasm for the new developments demonstrated by Rieter. The conference program began with a presentation by Andrew Noone, Director of PET Resin & Recycling Consulting Services, on current PET market data and trends, as well as reasons and prerequisites for the continued growth of the PET market. Prof. Thomas Rieckmann of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences followed with a lecture on the future of solid-state polymerization (SSP), which provoked a lively and interesting debate. Dr. Ulrich Thiele of Polyester Technology then gave a talk on producing high-performance products from PET bottle flakes. Among his other findings, he showed that the benefits of high product quality and process stability more than compensate for the additional costs of the pelletizing step in various recycling applications. Further conference talks covered topics such as new developments in PET processing, in particular the significant cost advantages of Rieter’s new Combi-Crystal-PET® (CC-PET®) direct crystallization process.

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50,000 kg/h throughput with CC-PET®
At the conclusion of the symposium, visitors were invited to an exclusive live demonstration in Rieter’s nearby pelletizing laboratory, where the company presented its new direct crystallization process for both spherical and cylindrical pellets to a broad audience for the first time. This innovative technology presently supports throughputs of up to 50,000 kg/h. The conference participants were delighted to see their needs such as easy startup and shutdown of the underwater pelletizing system and rapid knife changes addressed before their eyes, reinforcing their confidence in Rieter’s technical excellence. However, the new CC-PET® process was not the only demonstration to grab attention. Rieter’s new I-BORO® service tool was shown in action, an innovation which promises to revolutionize customer support in the future. This state-of-the-art audiovisual communications system enables on-site support over the Internet, delivering immediate help for numerous equipment faults or service needs. The visitors followed the online demonstration with intense interest, recognizing the enormous potential of the I-BORO® solution.

The two-day symposium provided participants not only with a wealth of current information but also with concrete opportunities to translate this knowledge into higher operating profitability by using customized process solutions from Rieter.

Rieter Automatik GmbH, Grossostheim/Germany

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