EREMA believes that the circular economy for plastics can only be achieved with the highest possible quality of recycled pellets. With its new development INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact, the company is enhancing the quality level for recycling challenging post-consumer materials, and is doing so with significantly reduced energy consumption.

A key feature of this innovative double filtration machine is the consistently gentle treatment of the melt throughout the entire process. This is the result of combining the patented and proven TVEplus technology with the new DuaFil Compact technology.

"Because there is no discharge metering zone and the melt pump is custom designed to the application, the pressure build-up required for the second filtration unit is especially efficient and only needs a much lower temperature," said Sebastian Sochor, R&D Engineer at EREMA.

INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact combines the patented extruder system for processing challenging materials with a second high-performance filtration and upstream reduced-temperature pressure build-up zone.

"The extruder does not need to build up pressure and can be built much shorter, 10 L/D shorter compared to the previous EREMA double filtration solution. The lower melt temperature of the DuaFil Compact in this area has a positive effect on the melt quality and significantly reduces energy consumption," Sochor continued.

The new INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact 1108 achieves a melt temperature upstream of the second filter unit that is 18.5°C lower than the previous EREMA double filtration solution when processing LDPE supermarket film containing paper, and consumes 10% less energy overall (specific energy consumption kWh/kg).

Another advantage is in the processing of LDPE/LLDPE material streams that often have varying degrees of moisture and contamination due to impurities such as paper labels, wood particles or foreign polymers. These get into the material stream through splinters from pallets or strapping bands and can lead to the formation of unpleasant odors and discoloration.

This is where the DuaFil Compact Zone really comes into its own, because operating at a lower melt temperature very effectively prevents the combustion that would otherwise cause these odors.

EREMA Group's R&D focuses on circular economy for PET fibers

On the other hand, EREMA stated that while growth rates in the production of fibers and textiles are high, the circular economy has hardly become established in this segment. The EREMA Group is intensifying development of recycling solutions for this application with their new fibers and textiles business unit.

The initial focus will be on PET, regarded as a key material for the production of synthetic fibers. The aim is to find recycling solutions that allow PET fiber materials to be prepared for reuse in PET fiber production processes.

Fiber waste from filament fiber production was recycled into high-quality pellets in EREMA's fiber test center.

This is a significant step for the circular economy because PET fibers in textiles account for about two-thirds of the total volume of PET. Packaging applications account for only one-third of the PET material stream.

In this development work, the EREMA Group can build on existing know-how. Proven recycling technologies have been combined with a new IV optimizer.

"This extends the residence time of the PET melt, which is particularly necessary in fiber recycling to efficiently remove spinning oils. Our recycling process also increases the IV value of the PET melt after extrusion back to the specific level that is essential for production of the fiber," explained Wolfgang Hermann, Business Development Manager Application Fibres & Textiles, EREMA Group GmbH.

The quality of the rPET produced using this method is so high that it can be used to manufacture ultra-fine fibers up to 2 dtex with an rPET content of 100%. Waste PET fiber from production processes can therefore be further processed into rPET filament fiber, carpet yarn and staple fiber.

In order to accelerate development work, EREMA opened its own fiber test center a few months ago, where a cross-company team is working on recycling solutions for fiber-to-fiber applications.

The center also operates a fully equipped and variable industrial-scale recycling plant. It includes the peripheral technology required for fiber materials and is available for trials using customers' material streams. Technologies for recycling mixed fiber textiles from textile collection sources are to follow in a follow-up project phase.

EREMA believes that the circular economy for plastics can only be achieved with the highest possible quality of recycled pellets. With its new development INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact, the company is enhancing the quality level for recycling challenging post-consumer materials, and is doing so with significantly reduced energy consumption.

A key feature of this innovative double filtration machine is the consistently gentle treatment of the melt throughout the entire process. This is the result of combining the patented and proven TVEplus technology with the new DuaFil Compact technology.

"Because there is no discharge metering zone and the melt pump is custom designed to the application, the pressure build-up required for the second filtration unit is especially efficient and only needs a much lower temperature," said Sebastian Sochor, R&D Engineer at EREMA.

INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact combines the patented extruder system for processing challenging materials with a second high-performance filtration and upstream reduced-temperature pressure build-up zone.

"The extruder does not need to build up pressure and can be built much shorter, 10 L/D shorter compared to the previous EREMA double filtration solution. The lower melt temperature of the DuaFil Compact in this area has a positive effect on the melt quality and significantly reduces energy consumption," Sochor continued.

The new INTAREMA TVEplus DuaFil Compact 1108 achieves a melt temperature upstream of the second filter unit that is 18.5°C lower than the previous EREMA double filtration solution when processing LDPE supermarket film containing paper, and consumes 10% less energy overall (specific energy consumption kWh/kg).

Another advantage is in the processing of LDPE/LLDPE material streams that often have varying degrees of moisture and contamination due to impurities such as paper labels, wood particles or foreign polymers. These get into the material stream through splinters from pallets or strapping bands and can lead to the formation of unpleasant odors and discoloration.

This is where the DuaFil Compact Zone really comes into its own, because operating at a lower melt temperature very effectively prevents the combustion that would otherwise cause these odors.

EREMA Group's R&D focuses on circular economy for PET fibers

On the other hand, EREMA stated that while growth rates in the production of fibers and textiles are high, the circular economy has hardly become established in this segment. The EREMA Group is intensifying development of recycling solutions for this application with their new fibers and textiles business unit.

The initial focus will be on PET, regarded as a key material for the production of synthetic fibers. The aim is to find recycling solutions that allow PET fiber materials to be prepared for reuse in PET fiber production processes.

Fiber waste from filament fiber production was recycled into high-quality pellets in EREMA's fiber test center.

This is a significant step for the circular economy because PET fibers in textiles account for about two-thirds of the total volume of PET. Packaging applications account for only one-third of the PET material stream.

In this development work, the EREMA Group can build on existing know-how. Proven recycling technologies have been combined with a new IV optimizer.

"This extends the residence time of the PET melt, which is particularly necessary in fiber recycling to efficiently remove spinning oils. Our recycling process also increases the IV value of the PET melt after extrusion back to the specific level that is essential for production of the fiber," explained Wolfgang Hermann, Business Development Manager Application Fibres & Textiles, EREMA Group GmbH.

The quality of the rPET produced using this method is so high that it can be used to manufacture ultra-fine fibers up to 2 dtex with an rPET content of 100%. Waste PET fiber from production processes can therefore be further processed into rPET filament fiber, carpet yarn and staple fiber.

In order to accelerate development work, EREMA opened its own fiber test center a few months ago, where a cross-company team is working on recycling solutions for fiber-to-fiber applications.

The center also operates a fully equipped and variable industrial-scale recycling plant. It includes the peripheral technology required for fiber materials and is available for trials using customers' material streams. Technologies for recycling mixed fiber textiles from textile collection sources are to follow in a follow-up project phase.