PET Recycling Takes Leap With Oerlikon Barmag Technology
PT. Kahatex, one of Indonesia’s biggest fabric manufacturers has commissioned the homogenisation technology provided by Oerlikon Barmag Huitong Engineering (OBHE), a joint venture between Oerlikon Barmag and Yangzhou Huitong Chemical Engineering Technique Co., Ltd.
The system has a daily capacity of 25 tons for recycling popcorn and bottle flakes into textile quality chips for manufacturing POY and DTY.
“This key component ensures an evenly-homogeneous melt, influences the increase in viscosity and hence enables the production of defined rPET preliminary products for further processing such as melt, chips and fiber materials for direct spinning,” Oerlikon Barmag said.
According to the German company, using the corresponding thermomechanical recycling process, the waste material is extruded and the larger, more solid components filtered out before the homogeniser swings into action.
“It is in this reactor that the actual mechanical recycling and polycondensation take place. The technology generates a high surface area and in conjunction with the precisely-defined dwell time, provides more options for influencing the melt.” Oerlikon added.
“This creates an even, homogeneous melt, while the technology also simplifies the removal of volatile components. In turn, this enables targeted adjustment of the viscosity, which is necessary as the waste material to be processed does not always have the same viscosity,” it explained.
In this way, spinning system yarn waste, in the form of knotted balls or tangled threads is processed into popcorn shaped agglomerates for extrusion. This popcorn can have viscosity values of 0.6, but also lower values of 0.4, which is adjusted with the homogeniser increasing the viscosity.
After exiting the reactor, the melt is once again filtered and finer, gel-containing components are removed. Subsequently, it can be further processed as required in the form of chips or using a direct spinning process to manufacture filament yarns, staple fibres or nonwovens.
