Methods for reducing contamination in plastics recovered from durable goods
AssigneeMBA Polymers, Inc.
InventorsBrian L. Riise, Ron C. Rau, Michael B. Biddle
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for reducing the content of residual organic substances in mixtures of plastics from durable goods can include separating a feed stream into two or more mixtures of flakes and preforming a cleaning process to remove a portion of one or more of the absorbed organic substances from one or more of the mixtures. Each mixture can contain one or more plastic types and at least one organic substance absorbed into the one or more plastic types. The flakes in the mixtures can have an average particle diameter of less than 10 millimeters.
Claims14
A process for reducing the content of residual organic substances in mixtures of plastics from durable goods comprising
- separating a feed stream into two or more mixtures of flakes, each mixture containing one or more plastic types and at least one organic substance absorbed into the one or more plastic types, wherein the flakes in the mixtures have an average particle diameter of less than 10 millimeters;
- and
- performing a cleaning process to remove a portion of one or more of the absorbed organic substances from one or more of the mixtures, the cleaning process comprising:
- milling the one or more of the mixtures such that the one or more mixtures reach a temperature ranging from about 85° C. to about 95° C.;
- and
- extruding the one or more mixtures at a temperature ranging from about 200° C. to about 230° C.
A process for reducing the content of residual organic substances in mixtures of plastics from durable goods comprising:
- separating a feed stream into two or more flake mixtures such that each flake mixture contains one or more plastic types, at least one organic substance absorbed into the one or more plastic types, wherein the at least one organic substance includes hydrocarbon residues from petroleum products, and wherein flake mixture comprises flakes having an average particle diameter of less than 10 millimeters;
- separating a main polymer from a contaminant polymer, the main polymer comprising HDPE, HIPS, ABS, PP, or combinations thereof, the contaminant polymer comprising EVOH, polyamides, or both;
- and
- performing a cleaning process to remove a portion of one or more of the absorbed organic substances from one or more of the mixtures, the cleaning process comprising:
- milling the one or more mixtures such that the one or more of the mixtures reach a temperature ranging from about 85° C. to about 95° C.;
- extruding the one or more mixtures at a temperature ranging from about 200° C. to about 230° C.;
- and
- pelletizing at least one or more mixtures during or after the extruding.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.