Plastic Separation

This plastic separation technology is based on simple, proven physical principles. These principles have been applied to this process in a way that is unique from any other company in the world and it is protected with several international patents.

The unit takes chopped pieces of different types of plastic, charges them with static electricity, and drops them through an electric field, resulting in a natural separation of the plastic types based on pieces being attracted toward the electrode of the opposite polarity. Once the mixed plastics have been separated into the individual types, the end products can be used in place of new, more expensive virgin material.

Simple Process Description

In the process, chopped dry particles (1-10 mm size) of mixed plastics are fed continuously into the upper end of a slightly tilted, slowly rotating drum. As the particles tumble over each other they become charged, due to the many and repeated contacts.

The quantity and polarity of the charge on each particle depends on the contacts with other particles. Because of the tilt of the drum, the particles migrate to the exit end of the drum where they fall through a strong horizontal electric field in the separation tower.

The negatively charged particles are drawn toward the positive electrode while the positively charged particles are drawn toward the negative electrode. (see schematic below)

Unique Technology Allows Broad Application

This technology can be easily used wherever plastics recycling is required. The process is clean and dry, and very low cost using less than 1 kilowatt of power for a one tonne/hour capacity separator.

Because of the low cost of the separation process and the compatibility with current recycling technologies, it is profitable to process even low cost polymers such as polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride(PVC).

Proven Profitability

The separation process itself is very low cost - less than US$0.02/lb for operating costs, including equipment lease, labor and energy assuming a one shift operation. This is much lower than costs for the other elements of recycling such as chopping, grinding, cleaning and even shipment.

Example of PP/PE separation

Both post consumer and post industrial mixed plastic scrap containing PP and PE in various ratios have been separated successfully. Typically, yields from the separation are in the 80-85% range of plastic whose purity exceeds 99.5%. The material that is not separated can be diverted back through the process to be separated on the next pass.

This has the effect of decreasing the capacity of the unit but the yield at that throughput is then 100%. Assume that a single separation unit is operating a single shift, 250 days/year on a 50/50 PE/PP mixture and that the input capacity of the separation unit is 2200lbs/hour.

Schematic Drawing

Simple Process Description

Proven Profitability

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