PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2017

TRADE SHOW PREVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 04/17 www.petpla.net 50 In additional to Multi Rotation System (MRS) design optimisation over the past year, Gneuss has devel- oped the new Jump system. This is installed directly downstream of the Gneuss Processing Unit and thanks to its ingenious process ensures an accurate and controllable IV boost of the PET in the melt phase. The Jump system is a compact alternative to conventional SSP (solid state) systems and enables direct reintroduction of the polymer into the production process without the need to re-melt the PET. With the Gneuss industrial waste concept, industrial waste is first fed through a shredder or a knife mill until the size is reduced so that it can be fed into the extruder. This can mean either compaction of the size reduced waste or a crammer feeder fitted directly to the extruder. The first important process- ing stage: melt decontamination takes place in the extruder. With its devolatilisation capacity, the MRS extruder can process PET waste with high residual moisture levels and/or contamination (such as spin finish oils) without the need for any pre-treatment of the waste. In the Multi Rotation (MRS) sec- tion of the extruder a huge poly- mer surface area and rapid surface exchange rate under vacuum ensure that all these volatile contaminants are reliably extracted. Solid con- tamination is extracted with the fully-automatic and process-con- stant Gneuss Rotary Melt Filtration System. With filtration finenesses of down to 20μm and below, a pure and particle-free polymer melt is guaranteed. During the second stage of the process, the purified and homogenised polymer is fed by means of a melt pump into the Jump. A large surface area of the polymer melt and optimum residence time of the polymer under vacuum are decisive factors. The purified and homogenised polymer is fed by means of a melt pump into the Jump. Here, too, a large surface area of the polymer melt and optimum residence time of the polymer under vacuum are decisive factors. The polymer melt is kept under vacuum as it passes over slowly rotat- ing elements. Through control of the residence time and the speed of the rotating elements, controlled poly- condensation takes place whereby controlled IV boosting takes place of typically 0.02 to maximum 0.3dl/g. The design of the Jump system avoids the ingress of oxygen so that the yellowing effect encountered during the recy- cling of PET is reduced to an absolute minimum. After the PET melt has passed through a stilling chamber in the Jump system, the polymer is pumped directly into the production process (for exam- ple direct extrusion spinning, strapping) or to a pelletising (chip cutting) system. With the complete system consisting of the Gneuss Processing Unit with the MRS Extruder and a Jump system, The Gneuss Processing Unit (GPU) has been available for several years and has proven itself on the reprocess- ing of bulky PET waste such as post-consumer bottle flake and industrial waste from fibre and film manufacture. This Gneuss Processing Unit consists of the Gneuss MRS extruder with its unmatched devolatilisation and decontami- nation performance together with the highly-efficient Gneuss Rotary Disc melt filtration systems and the Gneuss Online Viscometer for intelligent dynamic viscosity control, monitor- ing and logging. Gneuss Processing Unit with Jump North entrance - Booth C03 Reprocessing of PET industrial and post-consumer waste Industrial waste and post-consumer recycling