Shredder Waste Plastic Fraction Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for processing metal-poor, plastic-rich substance mixtures fail to produce a highly pure end product for material recycling, as they do not effectively separate and refine the heavy plastic-rich fractions, leading to impurities and inefficiencies in the recycling process.
Innovation Solution
The method involves separating the heavy, plastic-rich fraction into multiple fractions of different particle sizes, followed by separate processing steps, including metal separation, comminution, and density separation, using techniques like magnetic separation, eddy current separation, and X-ray separation to achieve high purity, and subsequent surface cleaning and optical sorting to remove contaminants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the heavy plastic-rich fraction is processed as a single mixture, then the processing is simpler and faster, but the purity of the end product is insufficient for high-quality material recycling
Solution Approach 1:
The heavy plastic-rich fraction is separated into multiple fractions with different particle sizes (fine fraction <6.3mm, medium fraction 6.3-12.5mm, coarse fraction >12.5mm) using screening devices. Each fraction is then processed separately through density separation and cleaning stages, allowing for optimized processing parameters for each size category and ultimately achieving high-purity end products while managing complexity through systematic division of the processing task.
2Reliability
If metal separation is performed early in the process, then metal contaminants are removed, but the separation efficiency decreases due to interference from light plastic materials
Solution Approach 1:
Before metal separation, the heavy plastic-rich fraction undergoes preliminary processing including crushing to reduce particle size and screening to separate into different size fractions. This preliminary action removes light plastic materials that would interfere with metal detection, and concentrates the metal contaminants in specific size fractions, thereby improving the reliability and efficiency of subsequent metal separation processes.
3Productivity
If the heavy fraction is not separated into different particle sizes, then the processing time is reduced, but the recyclability and quality of the plastic material is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The heavy plastic-rich fraction is divided into multiple particle size fractions using screening devices with different mesh sizes. Each size fraction is then processed through dedicated density separation and cleaning stages, allowing for optimized processing parameters for each category. This segmentation ensures that fine, medium, and coarse plastics are properly separated and cleaned, achieving high recyclability and quality while maintaining efficient processing through parallel treatment streams.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the production of highly pure end fractions, improving material recycling by ensuring improved process control and separation of metals and plastics, resulting in high-quality plastic granules suitable for raw material recycling.
Implementation Method 1
Separation of metal parts still present, in particular those metal parts which were broken down during the processing of the metal-poor, plastic-rich substance mixtures
Implementation Method 2
separating the non-ferromagnetic metal parts
Implementation Method 3
separating polyvinyl chloride
Implementation Method 4
separating the heavy, plastic-rich fraction into several, in particular three plastic-rich fractions different particle sizes
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and a system for preparing a heavy plastic-rich fraction (SF) obtained by preparing low-metal, plastic-rich waste (KA) originating at least in part from shredder processes of scrap vehicles. The method according to the invention comprises at least the following successive process steps: - separating (VG1, VG2) metal parts (FE, NES, NE) from the heavy, plastic-rich fraction (SF), - shredding (VG4) the heavy, plastic-rich, metal-reduced fraction (KFA) remaining after separating the metal parts, - dividing (VG6) the heavy, plastic-rich, metal-reduced fraction (KFA) remaining after separating the metal parts into plastic-rich fractions (KF1 to KF3) of different grain sizes, - preparing (VG8-VG13) the separated plastic-rich fractions (KF1 to KF3) at least partially in separate processes. The system according to the invention comprises appropriate means for performing the process steps. Using the invention, a highly pure granulate fraction is obtained and can be fed into a material recovery system.