By Ron Shinn
Erema demonstrated an innovative new degassing technology for compounding post-consumer materials called Volex at K 2025.
Managing Director Markus Huber-Lindinger said Volex represents the first time the water stripping process has been implemented effectively on a single-screw extruder. Water stripping is the process where water is injected into the extruder to release impurities that a standard vacuum alone cannot remove.
The process uses the Plus-Zone on the company’s Intarema TVEplus along with a specially designed extruder screw and cylinder geometry. Volex has an intelligent dosing and control system.
The Plus-Zone is located directly after the filter, upstream of degassing. Water is added to the plastic melt in in the Plus-Zone in precise doses and distributed evenly to draw out the volatile organic compounds (VOC). This creates the stripping effect.
Compared with Intarema TVEplus using standard degassing, the open-pored melt created by the evaporation of the water multiplies the exposed surface area of the melt 1,000-fold, shortening the diffusion paths to a minimum, and allowing VOCs and condensable substances such as limonene to escape more easily. Together with an increase in the surface renewal rate of up to 320 percent and the high free volume, the process that takes place is a high-efficiency boost for degassing performance. The Volex technology does not need any additional melt lines, diverters or manifolds, the company said.
Erema said it improves degassing performance. VOCs are reduced by up to 40 percent in the final recycled pellets and are up to 75 percent lower than the input material.
Fogging effects also are significantly reduced with the Volex system, according to Erema.
Huber-Lindinger said with the Volex technology, processors can use higher proportions of recycled material in new products.
Erema also launched two additional modules for its PredictOn predictive maintenance series. One new module uses artificial intelligence to assist in data analysis, and the other monitors the plasticizing unit. Both are monitored through Erema’s BluPort control screen, which brings all apps and collected data into one place.
Contact:
Erema North America Inc., Ipswich, Mass., 978-356-3771, www.erema.com
