Abstract
Continued research at Northwestern University suggests a new way to turn commingled post-consumer recycled plastics into useful blends via Solid-State Shear Pulverization (S3P) process. The process subjects polymers to high shear while rapidly removing frictional heat. No melting takes place, and a relatively uniform powder is discharged. Post-consumer, mixed-color recycled polyolefins have been converted into well-defined powders suitable for many demanding applications. This result has been achieved via a novel S3P process (which employs a modified twin screw extruder made by Berstorff Maschinenbau, GmbH, Germany) with many kinds of resins, including linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), blends of HDPE/PP (70:30), HDPE/LLDPE (60:40), and HDPE/LLDPE/PP (60:30:10). Classification of these powders by screen analysis revealed either unimodal or bimodal distributions; scanning electron microscopy showed that in all cases the particles are elongated, with aspect ratios on the order of 5, due to the intense shear of the S3P process.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Annual Technical Conference - ANTEC, Conference Proceedings |
Editors | Anon |
Publisher | Soc Plast Eng |
Pages | 2533-2537 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Volume | 2 |
State | Published - Jan 1 1998 |
Event | Proceedings of the 1998 56th Annual Technical Conference, ANTEC. Part 1 (of 3) - Atlanta, GA, USA Duration: Apr 26 1998 → Apr 30 1998 |
Other
Other | Proceedings of the 1998 56th Annual Technical Conference, ANTEC. Part 1 (of 3) |
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City | Atlanta, GA, USA |
Period | 4/26/98 → 4/30/98 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering