Methods for recycling plastic Nylon 6,6 from vacuum bags to obtain filaments or powder for 3D printing processes

A method for recycling plastic Nylon 6,6 from vacuum bags to obtain filaments for 3D printing processes, that comprises the following steps:

• providing used Nylon 6,6 vacuum bags,
• checking, via a quality control step, a status of the used vacuum bags,
• forming smaller parts from the used vacuum bags via one of:
• taking the vacuum bags into a grinder machine where they are cut up into smaller pieces, or
• cutting the vacuum bags into films, the films being rolled up and then being introduced into a set of extruder and cutter to obtain pellets,
• checking, via a quality control step, a status of the smaller pieces or the pellets,
• introducing the smaller pieces or the pellets into an extruder, where they are melted into a molten material, and the molten material is cooled and expelled through a die of the extruder to produce recycled filaments,
• winding the recycled filaments that have been expelled from the extruder into coils, and,
• a compounding step before the step of introducing into the extruder, in which the smaller pieces or the pellets and fiber reinforcements are introduced in a set of extruder and cutter for the compounding step to obtain reinforced smaller pieces or reinforced pellets to be used in the extrusion to filament step,
• wherein the fiber reinforcements are recycled fibers obtained from fiber reinforced plastics scraps obtained during aircraft part production,
• wherein the quality control step to check the status of the used vacuum bags comprises one or more of the following controls:
• visual inspection to detect any change of color, appearance, rigidity or flexibility that involves at least one of crystallinity degree modification or concentration of resin residues, and
• thermal analysis to detect weight loss percentage, and
• wherein the quality control step to check the status of the smaller pieces or pellets before the extrusion step comprises one or more of the following controls:
• thermal analysis to detect changes in Glass Transition Temperature, melting temperature or extent of crystallinity, and
• molecular weight analysis.

A method for recycling plastic Nylon 6,6 from vacuum bags to obtain filaments for 3D printing processes, that comprises the following steps:

• providing used Nylon 6,6 vacuum bags,
• checking, via a quality control step, a status of the used vacuum bags,
• forming smaller parts from the used vacuum bags via one of:
• taking the vacuum bags into a grinder machine where they are cut up into smaller pieces, or
• cutting the vacuum bags into films, the films being rolled up and then being introduced into a set of extruder and cutter to obtain pellets,
• checking, via a quality control step, a status of the smaller pieces or the pellets,
• introducing the smaller pieces or the pellets into an extruder, where they are melted into a molten material, and the molten material is cooled and expelled through a die of the extruder to produce recycled filaments,
• winding the recycled filaments that have been expelled from the extruder into coils, and,
• a compounding step before the step of introducing into the extruder, in which the smaller pieces or the pellets and fiber reinforcements are introduced in a set of extruder and cutter for the compounding step to obtain reinforced smaller pieces or reinforced pellets to be used in the extrusion to filament step,
• wherein the quality control step to check the status of the used vacuum bags comprises one or more of the following controls:
• visual inspection to detect any change of color, appearance, rigidity or flexibility that involves at least one of crystallinity degree modification or concentration of resin residues, and
• thermal analysis to detect weight loss percentage, and
• wherein the quality control step to check the status of the smaller pieces or pellets before the extrusion step comprises one or more of the following controls:
• thermal analysis to detect changes in Glass Transition Temperature, melting temperature or extent of crystallinity, and
• molecular weight analysis.