Method for recycling waste thermoplastic materials and using this recycled thermoplastic in composite material production

Abstract

This invention is related to a method for production of high strength and low cost thermoplastic composite materials by processing and treating waste plastic materials with some minerals. The object of the invention is to embody a recycling method wherein it contains high amounts of additives and therefore composite materials with high strength properties are obtained. Another object of the invention is to embody a recycling method wherein high amounts of additives are used in the production and the machines used in the production are not damaged.

Claims

1. A method for recycling waste plastic materials and using this recycled plastic in composite material production, comprises the steps of: Releasing a number of types of compressed thermoplastic waste materials by feeding into a bale opening machine; Feeding the waste plastic materials into a separation unit and in there separation from rocks, earth, sand and other coarse foreign materials; Feeding the waste plastic material into a cutting machine, cutting the waste plastic material into small pieces through high speed blades and at the same time washing by injecting water mm the machine; Feeding the waste plastic materials cut into small pieces to a muddy water separation machine and separation of a slimed material from muddy water by centrifugal forces; Transferring the waste plastic material into a pool filled with water, rinsing in there and at the same time precipitation of sand and other heavy materials that may have left on it; Transferring the waste plastic material into an organic contamination separation machine and here cleaning of oil and other organic foreign materials on the waste plastic material that can not be removed in the previous processes by centrifugal forces; Transferring the waste plastic material to a water separation machine and there separating the water and moisture on the waste plastic material by centrifugal forces; Storing the waste plastic material by transferring to storage silos; Transferring the waste plastic material into a drying machine and here drying the waste plastic material by heating and at the same time powdering it by crinkling for easy feeding to machines in future processes; Storing the dried and crinkled waste plastic material by transferring to storage silos; Transferring the waste plastic material to a horizontal reactor; Heating the waste plastic material in the horizontal reactor until it melts under pressure up to 350 C. temperature; Adding a painter and compatibilizer chemical materials to the waste plastic material heated in the horizontal reactor through a side feeding unit; Adding mineral materials, through another side feeding unit in the horizontal reactor, to the melted waste plastic material in which the painter and the compatibilizer chemical materials have been added; Further heating and mixing the melted waste plastic material with additives to form a melted composite material; Immediately pouring the melted composite material free flowing from the horizontal reactor into independent detached molds before it cools down and cooling under pressure by compression inside the independent detached molds by means of individual hydraulic presses.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is the first part of the flow chart of the method.

(2) FIG. 2 is the second part of the flow chart of the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(3) The method of recycling waste plastic materials and using these recycled plastic materials in composite material production which is performed in order to achieve the object of the invention is illustrated in appended FIGURES, wherein;

(4) First, a number of types of thermoplastic waste plastic material are fed into a bale opening machine and the compressed waste plastic material is released. (110)

(5) The waste plastic materials is fed into a separation unit and in there separated from rocks, earth, sand and other coarse foreign materials. (120)

(6) The waste plastic material is fed into the cutting machine, the waste plastic material is cut into small pieces through high speed blades and at the same time washed by injecting water into the machine. (130)

(7) The waste plastic materials cut into small pieces are fed to a muddy water separation machine and the slimed material is separated from the muddy water by centrifugal forces. (140)

(8) Then the material is transferred into a pool filled with water, rinsed in there and at the same time sand and other heavy materials that may have left on it is precipitated. (150)

(9) The material is transferred into the organic contamination separation machine and here the oil and other organic foreign materials on the material that can not be removed in the previous processes are cleaned off by centrifugal forces. (160)

(10) The material is transferred to the water separation machine and there the water and moisture on the material is separated by centrifugal forces. (170)

(11) Then the material is stored by transferring to storage silos. (180)

(12) The material is transferred into the drying machine and here the material is dried by heating and at the same time powdered by crinkling for easy feeding to machines in the future processes. (190)

(13) The dried and crinkled material is stored by transferring to storage silos. (200)

(14) The material is transferred to the horizontal reactor. (210)

(15) The material is heated in the horizontal reactor under pressure up to 350 C. temperature. (220)

(16) The painter and the compatibilizer chemical materials are injected to the material heated in the horizontal reactor through a side feeding unit. (230)

(17) The mineral materials are injected to the system through another side feeding unit. (240)

(18) The mixture is continuously mixed and heated until the linear links of the plastic material is broken and branched, cross links form and materials are relinked to each other at molecular level and the reaction is waited to end. (250)

(19) The melted composite material exiting from the horizontal reactor is immediately poured into the molds before it cools down and cooled under pressure by compression inside the molds. (260)

(20) In the method according to the invention, a high amount of additives can be added to the thermoplastics since there is no compression after the filler material is added and no large counter torques are generated.

(21) In the system according to the invention, the loss of energy for heating is prevented by adding the filler material in the reaction stage after the plastic materials are melted and unnecessary energy consumption for the filler materials is prevented.

(22) In the system according to the invention, the wearing on the machines is minimized since the filler materials and the minerals are fed into the reactor after the plastic materials are melted.

(23) The method according to the invention provides a huge amount of energy saving. In the plastic processing machines that are currently in use that work by systems such as injection and extrusion, the filler material is initially fed into the machines with the thermoplastic materials and the mixture is required to be heated up to the melting temperature of the thermoplastics. Here energy must be consumed for heating both the thermoplastics and the filler materials. In the system according to the invention, no energy must be consumed for heating the filler materials since the filler materials are fed into the system at a later stage.

(24) In the method according to the invention, the melted composite material exiting from the horizontal reactor is immediately poured into the molds and cooled under pressure by compression. A multiple-mold system is employed depending on the capacity of the horizontal reactor and the cooling time of the melted composite material in the mold. The molds are placed sequentially, one mold is filled and left to cool and the next molds is processed. The compression in the molds is performed by hydraulic presses. Non flooding compression molding method is used in the system. By this method, the plastic material that has a large volume with a certain weight is compressed in the mold by pressure into the molding cavity with a smaller volume. In the non flooding compression molds, the driving punch is matched to the mold cavity as in a cylinder-piston system.

(25) In the method according to the invention, the molds are simple and produced very cheaply since the non flooding compression molding method is used.

(26) In the method according to the invention, since the pressure required for compressing the molds is provided by the hydraulic presses which are separate parts of the system, the machines in the system are not required to be very complicated and thus the investment costs are low.

(27) In the method according to the invention, since the molds that are used are not attached to the machine and a multiple mold system is employed, the other machines continue to run while the material is cooling in the mold. As a result, the method according to the invention runs by continuous working principle and the production capacity is high.