XPS foam board is widely used as an insulation material. With the increasing use of XPS, if it cannot be recycled and processed reasonably, the pollution to the environment will become more and more serious. The garbage produced by Polystyrene-related plastic products is light in weight, large in size, resistant to aging, corrosion resistant, chemically stable, and not easily degraded by microorganisms. After entering the soil, it is easy to deteriorate the soil quality.
The main raw material of XPS is Polystyrene, so the XPS recycling method here can also be applied to EPS recycling.
Recycling Method of Waste Polystyrene
Catalytic cracking
Catalytic cracking of waste polystyrene produces a mixture mainly containing styrene. The main component of the cracked gas is styrene. Qualified styrene monomer and its by-products are obtained through subsequent energy recovery, chill cooling and rectification separation, and the recovery rate of styrene monomer reaches 70-85%.
Recycling for the manufacture of coatings and adhesives
XPS/EPS is mainly composed of polystyrene (PS), which can be used as a base material for coatings with good water resistance and insulation. However, coatings prepared with PS as a base material have poor adhesion and film-forming properties, so when PS is used as a coating film-forming material, it needs to be modified.
The modified PS, as a film-forming material, can be combined with various additives to produce coatings and adhesives with special properties, such as water-resistant, anti-corrosive, and fire-resistant coatings. However, the organic solvent-containing adhesives and coatings prepared from waste XPS/EPS will cause secondary pollution to the environment and harm the health of the constructors during the use process.
Recycling to make PS recycled particles
The most important use of waste in the XPS production process should still be used to make PS recycled particles, and in some specific cases, it can be used to produce XPS sheets. This should also be the most common recycling method at present.
XPS Recycling Equipment
We can provide complete XPS recycling system solutions. You can choose water ring pelletizing system or water cooling strand pelletizing system.
For example, One solution of XPS recycling system mainly includes the following parts:
Grinder
Pre-grind unit
- Intake motor
- 7.5kw
- Diameter of rotor
- 500mm
- Speed
- 60rpm
Refine grinding
- Grinding motor
- 45kw
- Diameter of rotor
- 500mm
- Max Speed
- 440rpm
- Grinding capacity
- 10-15m3/hr (XPS)
Force Feeding System
Silo
- Volume
- 2m3
- Material
- Q235
- Auger loading
- Loading motor
- 7.5kw
- Agitator motor
- 1.5kw
Metering system
- Agitator motor
- 1.5KW
- Horizontal convey motor
- 4kw
- Convey type
- single screw
- Speed
- 200rpm
- Vertical feeding motor
- 5.5kw
- Feeding type
- single screw
- Speed
- 400rpm
- Feeding capacity
- 500-600 kg/h
- Frequency inverter speed regulation
Tandem Extrusion System
The extrusion system is configured according to your needs. For example, a configuration we recently gave to our customers is as follows:
- Primary extruder
- TDD200 Single Screw Extruder
- Main motor
- AC, 75kw; SIEMENS
- Secondary extruder
- TDD150 Single Screw Extruder
- Main motor
- AC, 75kw; SIEMENS
Water Ring Pelletizing System
Extrusion die plate
- Material
- 40Cr with nitrify heat-treatment
- The strand outgoing hole dia.
- 2.8mm
- Holes number
- 60holes
- With 2 pcs of cutting knives.
- Stainless steel plate unit for protection equipped.
Water ring pelletizing
- Capacity
- 500 kg/h
- Driving power
- 3KW
- RPM controller
- ABBAC inverter
- S.S. for cutting hub.
- Water circulating system
- 5.5KW water pump.
- S.S. piping and water tank.
- Water temperature controlled.
Centrifugal dewater unit
- Driving power
- 5.5KW
- All the part touching with the polymer is made of stainless steel.
Vibrating classifier
- Capacity
- 500 kg/h
- Screen material
- stainless steel
- Screen layer
- 3pcs (each with oversize, regular size and small size hole)
- With two fan cooling on the top.
Conveying system and silo
- Conveying blower
- 3KW
- Pipe material
- stainless steel
- Silo Vol.
- 1000L
- Material
- stainless steel
- Detachable frame included.
