By Ron Shinn
Austrian manufacturer Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR) has completely redesigned its best-selling shredder-feeder-extruder unit for recycling post-industrial plastic.
The new unit, called the NXT:Gran, is highly efficient so that the full value of the material can be reclaimed, the company said. The patented NXT:Gran replaces the company’s S:Gran line.
The NXT:Gran system can process a wide range of post-industrial plastic waste, including heavily printed LDPE film, blow molded HDPE parts, PP film, PEEK pipe and start-up lumps.
First, a conveyor belt with a variable-speed roll feeder and air separator feeds scrap into the NXT:Gran unit.
Then, a hydraulic pusher presses the material against a solid shredder shaft. The low-speed shredder blades can handle bulky parts, NGR said. The cutter’s power remains uniform even if there are variations in how the material is fed into the machine.
The system’s Duo-Direct feeder conveys the shredded plastic into the system’s extruder at a constant rate. NGR has decoupled the shredder from the extruder so that the cutting speed and extrusion speed can be controlled separately.
The cutter outlet and extruder intake components are so close that heat generated during cutting is used by the extruder.
The plastic is melted and homogenized, and degassed if necessary, in the extruder. NGR can provide application-specific extruder screws.
Dosing systems are available to add color pigments, compatibilizers and other additives.
The melt is cleaned, depending on the application, with a standard screen changer or high-performance melt filter.
A pelletizing unit at the end of the process produces recycled resin pellets. Pelletizer options include water ring, hot die face, strand and underwater.
The system starts and stops with a single button; NGR said it can be restarted in less than 1 minute after an unscheduled shutdown. The touch-screen control includes an integrated recipe management function.
The unit is designed to provide easy access to the extruder barrel, control cabinet, shredding chamber, shredder knives, shredder shaft and hydraulics.
The NXT:Gran machines come in seven sizes, ranging from the NXT:Gran 65-65, which has a 2.6-inch-diameter extruder screw, 1.6-foot cutting width and throughput of 550 pounds per hour, to the NXT:Gran 115-100, with a 4.5-inch screw, 3.3-foot cutting width and throughput of 1,760 pounds per hour.
The machines produce throughputs up to 40 percent greater than the previous models, NGR said.
Ron Shinn, editor
Contact:
Next Generation Recycling Machines Inc., Norcross, Ga., 678-720-9861, www.ngr-world.com
Ron Shinn | Editor
Editor Ron Shinn is a co-founder of Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing and has been covering the plastics industry for more than 35 years. He leads the editorial team, directs coverage and sets the editorial calendar. He also writes features, including the Talking Points column and On the Factory Floor, and covers recycling and sustainability for PMM and Plastics Recycling.
