Plastics Processing and Recycling

Degassing Plastics with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

Vacuum pumps play an important role in degassing plastics to remove water vapour, toxic & corrosive gases and impurities that affect the quality of the product. Polymer melts are degassed at low pressures using vacuum pumps on extruders, when being compounded into different grades with additives and colourants and while being formed.

Edwards’ dry vacuum pump packages are simple, environmentally-friendly, reliable, flexible and cost-efficient. They are easy to service and install, with low cost of ownership. No matter how different your application is, Edwards has a solution.

Depending on your vacuum needs, our experts will select from our comprehensive range of pumps to deliver the right vacuum system for your process.

Recycling Plastics with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

Recycling plastics is not only better for reducing carbon footprint, it also means that less of it ends up in landfill, rivers, seas and oceans. Vacuum systems help to remove entrained gasses and aid the reaction in solid state recycling of PET, HDPE, LDPE, PC, ABS and even in liquid state recycling process for PET.

Handling the waste gases and materials removed during degassing can be troublesome for some vacuum pumps, however Edwards vacuum packages provide reliable pumping in PET recycling processes and are easy to service.

Edwards vacuum solutions with their proven technologies are robust and reliable, even in difficult applications like bottle-to-bottle PET recycling which requires efficient removal of contaminating gases. Recycled PET is extruded into pellets called rPET pellets and converted into new PET bottles by the extrusion blow moulding process.

Our experts will select the right vacuum system for your recycling needs from our comprehensive range of vacuum pumps.

Compounding with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

Compounding of plastic requires several critical conditions to be achieved for a homogenous blend of raw materials and additives. During extrusion, different zones are heated according to the properties of the resins and uniform pressures and temperatures must be maintained in each zone. Edwards pumps provide stable vacuum that is required during the degassing of these zones to achieve the right quality of the compounded pellets.

Masterbatch made with heat sensitive additives, pigments & resins, need repeatable vacuum to maintain thermal stability and degassing of intermediates and end-products. Edwards’ vacuum pumps are flexible providing the right vacuum levels and ensure you get a repeatable performance every time.

Our experts will help you to select the right vacuum package for your Compounding and Masterbatch needs.

Manufacturing Packaging Plastics with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

A wide variety of plastics, mainly polyethylenes (HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE) are used for packaging. Single layer sheets and multilayer (or laminated) film structures are used as a barrier for industrial, agricultural and consumer goods packaging.

Edwards vacuum packages offer stable and uniform vacuum for film and sheet production and are designed to handle various degassing stages for different polymers and polymer grades.  Edwards vacuum systems can also handle waste gases from less commonly used polymers including PP, PA and EVOH giving you ultimate flexibility in your process.

Our experts will help you choose the right vacuum package for your process.

Vacuum forming with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

Vacuum formed products are all around us and play a major part in our daily lives, such as chocolate packaging trays, suitcases and even your car dashboard. The process involves heating a plastic sheet to a temperature, stretching it on a single surface mould and then forming it by applying vacuum to the mould. For advanced and more detailed forms, a steady and stable vacuum is a must.

Edwards vacuum packages offer reliable and stable vacuum on the mould which is essential for this process. Our experts will help you choose the right vacuum package according to the polymer you use and your process requirements.

Enabling Plastics Production with Edwards Vacuum Solutions

Plastics derived from natural and renewable sources reduce emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Bio-based polymers, like polylactic acid (PLA), derived by fermentation of crops, are manufactured by a direct or an indirect lactide intermediate polymerisation process. Vacuum is essential to initiate and aid the reaction as well as to extract the untreated monomer.

Edwards’ vacuum packages provide rough to high vacuum with steady and reliable pumping speeds for both batch and continuous processes. Whether you are planning a new installation or upgrading an existing system, our application specialists can design the right vacuum solution for your polymer production.

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