by Laurence Braithwaite, Aberdare Cables
How to reuse PVC scrap is the question? Investing in a Granumatic is the answer.
Published in:
Electricity+Control, February 2016 (pages 12, 13)
Enquiries: Email jdhunes@aberdare.co.za
PVC is a significant component of manufacturing power cables and as a result scrap will always be a result of the production process. The process that the company followed was, that the purged extrudate, also known as ‘bleed’ was sold off to a buyer as per the company’s tender process. This material was sold at the best price offered, and resulted in an average loss of R8,50 per kg to the company. Financial analysis indicated that during financial years 2014 and 2015 the loss of ‘bleed’ was in excess of R300 000 per month. The scrap level for PVC has an allowance of 5% and the company was attaining 7%; added to this, the sale of the PVC scrap was not enticing and it made more sense to explore how we could reuse this material. Investigations were made into what the best fit solution would be for this problem and this resulted in the company investing in a Granumatic – Granulator Arrangement. This machine is manufactured in Sweden by a company called Rapid Granulator and the commissioning of the machine was completed in November 2015.
Take note
• PVC is a significant component of manufacturing power cables.
• This company explored ways to reuse PVC scrap, rather than sell it.
• For this purpose a Swedish manufactured machine, designed exclusively for efficient recycling of polymer materials, was purchased.
Read the full article on PVC Granulator in low res PDF format.