´óÏó´«Ã½

Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), Booth W7263, is showcasing the P:REACT processing system with NGR Connect for continuous monitoring of operating parameters and the associated optimization options. The Liquid State Polycondensation (LSP) of scrap PET in the P:REACT machine cleans the melt of harmful contamination while still offering process stability. The FDA and EFSA have both approved the LSP decontamination process for 100% food contact applications.

An upstream extruder supplies devolatized and filtered melt to the LSP process. Inside the heated reactor, the melt is exposed to a strong vacuum at very high surface area to volume ratio. These conditions initiate the polycondensation process where IV increase and decontamination occur extremely rapidly. In many cases, the need for pre-drying can even be avoided. Maximum IV increase and decontamination are typically achieved with a 25-minute residence time, after which, the rPET will have reportedly near virgin like qualities.

The polymer melt pump at the LSP reactor outlet extracts the melt at constant volume and constant pressure. In addition, an inline viscometer gives feedback to the reactor control to ensure constant IV production. This combination of constant pressure, volume and IV provides exceptional process stability, which can be direct coupled to nearly any downstream process such as sheet, fiber or film production. NGR says that in film and sheet production using rPET, the high process stability of the P:REACT has resulted in noticeably less process downtime, leading to higher production rates.

NGR Connect gives operators a live digital connection to their recycling process. This is done by recording relevant operating parameters for the NGR system and making them accessible to the user on any end device (tablet, smartphone etc.). In conjunction with the P:REACT, NGR Connect monitors the decontamination performance based on sensory signals. Recipe management directly on the machine makes it possible to classify the PET input material and link to P:REACT production data. As a result, users have real-time process tracking and can continuously optimize the process to meet production goals.