HANOVER, GERMANY — Artec Machinery GmbH, the Austrian maker of recycling machines, and German extruder maker KraussMaffei Berstorff GmbH, are teaming up to develop a system to do recycling and compounding in one combined process.
Project name: Edelweiss.
Both companies will debut the technology at K 2013. Artec is in Hall 9, Stand D42. KraussMaffei Berstorff will be at Hall 15, Stand B27.
“The main benefit of this solution is the possibility to produce high-quality compound on a single heat,” said Ralf Dahl, division manager of twin-screw extruders at KraussMaffei Berstorff. That saves energy and also minimizes shear energy, which can damage the polymer structure.
Artec, of Kematen, Austria, contributes the technology of material cutting and compacting with dehumidifying, extrusion units with degassing systems and customized melt filtration units. The recycled material is cut by rotating blades, compacted and automatically dried, from the frictional heat. The cutter-compactor feeds the material flakes using centrifugal force into the attached screw extruder, where they are plasticized and homogenized.
On the way through the extruder, the melt passes degassing zones, where a vacuum remove impurities.
The prepared melt is dosed into a KraussMaffei Berstorff ZE twin-screw extruder.