New hot washing system at HERBOLD’s test centre

For several years, Herbold has been operating a washing test centre on an industrial scale in which customers, potential buyers, planners and researchers can test and simulate recycling processes way beyond laboratory level.

This plant is going to be expanded by a suitable hot washing step. “The new hot washing system replaces the previous pilot plant with which we have been developing the hot washing technology for polyolefin to market maturity in recent years. The new system is far more than a simple hot washing reactor and represents the latest state of technology as it is also implemented in our large-scale plants”, according to Achim Ebel, division manager for washing plants.

The plant allows customers to test the treatment of rigid plastics and films with an output of up to 1,000 Kg/h also in the hot washing system. The plant has been designed for continuous operation and operates in line with the existing hydrocyclone washing plant.

It can be verified whether and how an improvement of the final product is achievable. Especially common in the PET recycling, the hot washing system was traditionally used to remove adhesives with which labels were glued on bottles. The hot washing system is on its way to a demanded process step in the recycling of polyolefin and other plastics; anywhere where complicated residual material, heavy contamination, persistent odours are to be treated or just simply highest quality is demanded. With the hot washing system, a considerable reduction of organic contamination is achieved.

Herbold Meckesheim has delivered a number of plants for hot washing of PET, polyolefin and other plastic materials in recent years and worked for a wide know-how. This is what the pilot plant is now to offer to other projects.