Extrusion International USA 4-2019

59 Extrusion International 4/2019 ber horizontally at the height of the rotor using screw conveyors. To ac- complish this, the machine housing and feed system were completely re- designed to meet all requirements in terms of size-reduction performance as well as ease of access for mainte- nance purposes. When dealing with difficult applications, there are only a few providers on the market for size reduction technology who are able to offer an appropriate machine. The key to the solution is the rotor design of the SMS granulator. The rotor, which is manufactured from a single forged piece, guaran- tees stability. Welding seams can- not break because they do not exist. The knives of this rotor cannot shift because they are bolted to a mas- sive backstop. This design also makes cleaning easier since there are no “dead spots” in which grinding resi- due can deposit. Washing, separating, and drying: In recent years, Herbold has invested a lot in the area of washing lines. In ad- dition to their own technical depart- ment, the company has assembled a motivated team of process techni- cians and project engineers. They are therefore able now to offer the cus- tomers complete high-performance solutions. The success of a design that operates well is only based in part on the machines. The treatment of pro- cess water also plays a decisive role, especially for washing lines. Herbold also offers solutions covering this area as well now. “We focus on providing our custom- ers with comprehensive consulting,” stated Achim Ebel, Division Manager for washing lines. “For this reason, we look closely at the planned input quantities and compositions, but at the same time keep an eye on the de- sired applications for the washed end products. We do not offer washing lines off the shelf – designing a solu- tion that meets the particular require- ments is a more intensive individual process performed together with the customer. We seek close contact to our customers, talk openly with them about our experiences, and allow the terms of higher drying efficiency and performance, better accessibility, wear-protected parts, and automatic cleaning systems. Nowadays, we have also implemented the principles of multistage vertical drying in our hori- zontal dryers. This improves the prod- uct output rate and the lifespans of the wear parts. Furthermore, the thermal drying pro- cess was optimized. Thermal drying: The two-stage ther- mal dryer is completely new. The flow through the coils was optimized and the heating temperature was im- proved in terms of energy consump- tion. This design is used especially in the recycling of increasingly thinner films. It is used to reach low residual moisture contents and ensure the material can be processed afterwards with as little energy as possible. Label remover: Herbold has made numerous minor improvements, and therefore introduced a new and im- proved generation to the market. Based on a proven basic principle, the HERBOLD HLR label removers are now much more variable. This ap- plies to the removal process as well as to the integrated separation using a classifier. HerboldMeckesheimGmbH www.herbold.com results to flow into development. For this reason, numerous developments are frompractical applications and for practical applications, and our systems are always improving and becoming more efficient. Due to this agility, our customers always receive designs that are the state of the art in technology.” Herbold offers tried and tested solu- tions for the following applications in particular: Post-industrial and post- consumer films, Post-consumer hard plastics, PET bottles, PET trays, Big bags and other monofilaments, Tetra packs and pulp waste. The following new developments from the washing line product area will be presented. VWE 700 prewashing unit: An im- portant component in a Herbold film washing line is the multistage pre- washing unit, which captures coarse foreign bodies and reduces the min- eral fraction, both to protect the sub- sequent machines. The remainder is also gently prewashed. The type of prewashing developed by Herbold Meckesheim has been a proven tech- nology for a long time already that has convinced our customers. The company has optimized this process step even further by increas- ing the throughput performance for films, optimizing the flow of water, and integrating a baffle plate thick- ener into the unit to clean the process water. Therefore contaminants are di- rectly removed on the unit. Hot washing: Increasing quality re- quirements in the plastic recycling industry also require optimized clean- ing stages when building a plastics recycling plant. An important step in plastics recycling is the hot washing step, which has been a major step in the PET bottle recycling process. Her- bold Meckesheim has advanced this step of the process for PO films and can offer optimized temperatures and appropriate dwell times, and can provide optimal cleaning results and end material quality through the use of suitable additives. Mechanical drying: The dryers from Herbold Meckesheim already meet the highest quality requirements in Hall 09 Booth 9B 42 Hot washing, now also for films