PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2017

Materials / Recycling PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 09/17 www.petpla.net 12 The add-on Multi Purpose Reactor (MPR) technology of Erema – one year after the re-launch rPET packaging with food contact compatibility PETplanet: Mr Wöss, first of all I have to compliment Erema. In the past 15 months, Erema has sold 24 Vacu- rema Inline systems. What are the rea- sons for such a really good result? Wöss: The trend in the PET recy- cling sector is clearly in the direction of food-grade direct processing. This means that granulate production is not required as an intermediate step, and post-consumer PET flakes or even PET production waste are treated directly and without being reheated in a heater to final product. At the moment, 1.3 mil- lion tonnes of PET are recycled world- wide using Vacurema technology. End products are for example food-grade preforms for the beverage industry, thermoforming films, fibres or strapping. PETplanet: The MPR is an add-on technology within the Vacurema system. How flexibly can the MPR be used in existing extrusion lines? Wöss: The MPR is installed in front of the existing extrusion line. It replaces conventional crystallisers and pre-dryers. In one step, the product is decontaminated, dried, de-dusted and crystallised giving a guaranteed food- grade material. Long process times and high energy costs are thus already eliminated. The average pre-drying and crystallisation takes about 6-8 hours with a modular design, whereas our compact system takes 1-1.5 hours. PETplanet: What is the energy con- sumption of the MPR and what material can be used in the reactor? Wöss: The extremely low overall energy consumption of only 0.1kWh/kg is a really good argument for the MPR. The entire process takes place at a temperature of about 190°C. Due to the steady rise in temperature, the poly- mer structure opens and the process of removal of the migration substances as well as the internal moisture from the flakes begins. The input material used can be either washed PET bottle flakes, ground PET flat film waste, as well as PET virgin material and mixtures thereof. The bulk density of 200-350kg/ m 3 has been increased by the Reac- tor to 450-480kg/m 3 . This promotes a uniform and higher output of the extru- sion line. This ensures the customer a guaranteed increase in performance of their system. PETplanet: In conventional pro- cesses there are always problems with the colour quality of the material - how does the MPR cope? Wöss: Polyamide oxygen barrier or PVC for example has negative impact on colour quality. The vacuum process- ing of flakes avoids discolouring due to absence of oxygen. In addition, thanks to the frictional heat of the MPR, the effect on bridging and staining of mate- rials with low melting points is reduced. Over and above the viscosity can be increased slightly. PETplanet: After these very interesting details, I come back to the beginning - for our readers particularly interesting of course is how often this plant is used in the beverage sector? For example, how many systems do you have installed recently in the bottle to bottles area? Wöss: In the past months, Erema has been able to record some deals. This is interesting because the price of virgin PET is still low. It is evident that a rethink will be required in this area to get things moving. PETplanet: With Sipa, Erema has the best possible partner for the Xtreme Renew project presented at the Discovery Day last year, combin- ing the Vacurema technology directly linked to the Xtreme for preform pro- duction from 100% recycled material. What is the current situation? Wöss: On September 4-6, so before the Drinktec trade fair, Erema and Sipa together issued an invitation to come to Italy where the completed prototype is to be presented to our customers. A first live demonstration of the plant and first process results will be presented. Over three days, customers and the trade press will be coming to Italy and we will be avail- able to answer questions. PETplanet: We are delighted, because we are also invited to enjoy the beauty of Italy and will report on these first results. Now you have just mentioned this yourself: Drinktec is just around the corner. What can we expect at the Erema booth? Wöss: We will be in the PETpoint Hall A4 to welcome visitors at booth 346. We cordially invite all visitors to our booth to exchange views about current recycling topics and are greatly looking forward to this trade fair, so important for us! PETplanet: Mr Wöss thank you very much for your time and for a pleasant and informative conversation. www.erema.com One year has elapsed since Erema invited their customers to the Discovery Day 2016 at Ansfelden, Austria, to present the optimised MPR technology. A good reason to ask Mr Christoph Wöss, Business Development Manager for the bottle division at Erema about business developments. Christoph Wöss in front of the MPR of Sky-Light at Erema’s production facility by Heike Fischer