A Method to Predict Perimeter Melt Depth of Non-Recyclable Plastic Forced through aHeated Die

摘要

Conversion of dirty, used, agricultural plastics to an energy source through quaternary recycling has been researched by Garthe (2004) since the mid 1990s. Plastofuel~(TM)(Figure 1) is a fuel pellet formed from dirty, unsorted waste agricultural plastics not suitable for primary, secondary, or tertiary recycling.An automated machine to produce Plastomel~(TM) was designed and tested (Lawrence, 2007). The automated machine was capable of producing 27.6 kg/hr (61 lb/hr) of Plastomel~(TM) nuggets. Wasteplastics were loaded in the machine by an operator, and the plastic was compacted and forced into a heated die. The plastic forced into the die was heated with electrical strip heaters, jacketing the 3.8 cm x 3.8cm (1.5in x 1.5in) extrudate in approximately 2 mm (0.08 in) of melted plastic (Figure 1).