Abstract:
An infrared recycler was modelled mathematically to investigate its
performance and ability to recycle waste plastics from automotive
vehicles following their retirement. It uses infrared energy to heat and
dry a washed stream of unsorted plastics. Because the sorting process is
sensitive to many parameters, this paper discusses the effect of recycler
size, temperature and emissivity on the plastic mixture. A characteristic
curve was obtained for the recycler that relates the heater, drums and
pellets temperatures. With this curve, if the recycler material is known,
then the maximum temperatures that the heater and drum can reach
are sited. Moreover, if a certain pellet temperature is required, then
using this curve, the temperatures of the heater and drum are known.
Results also show that lower emissivity for both the heater and pellets
enhance evaporation and drying process. This increases heater and
drum temperatures and consequently the pellets temperature. Minimum
power consumption corresponds to (Dh/Dd) ratio of about 0.25.