What is a Granulator?

A granulator is used for size reduction, this is an essential step in plastic recycling. Granulators break down the waste products such as waste, wood, plastic, rubber, paper & carpets into smaller pieces called ‘regrind’ or flake’.

This maybe the only step before the ‘regrind’ can be reused in manufacturing new products. However the recycling of waste products requires other processes such as sorting and separation, size reduction, washing and pelletizing.

What types of Granulators are there?

What is inside a Granulator?

In a granulator are two types of knives. The cutting knives (rotor blades) and the stationary knives (stator blades). The cutting knives are mounted on a rotor, which is either open (usually has gaps to let the plastic fall through) or solid. This rotor is spun at high speeds by an electric motor. The motor is situated inside the cutting chamber where the stationary knives are mounted.

As the product enters the cutting chamber, the rotating knives cut the plastic into little pieces, until they are small enough to fit through the holes in the screen. The product will continue to mix and be cut until it is small enough to fall through the screen. The screen is situated under the rotating knives and can be changed so that the holes can be of different sizes depending on your required output size.

Which Granulator is right for you?

There are as many different types of granulator as there are different types of product. Whether you choose ‘Scissor Cut’, ‘V-type Cut’ or ‘Helical Cut’. Or open rotor or solid rotor. Or the motor speed… Choices, choices, choices…

If you are confused about your application?  At Rawmec, we manufacture Granulators and Shredders – and the output of each differs substantially.  Therefore, if you’re not certain of exactly what your equipment needs are, contact our engineers and they can quickly assess your needs and help you determine if a granulator is right for you.

Or you can look below to see our current stock of plastic granulators.

Standard Plastic Granulator Machines

Our standard heavy-duty plastic granulator machines, sometimes called plastic crushers, are essential machines in the plastic recycling industry. These specially designed granulators are extremely durable and have the unique ability to quickly and efficiently cut various plastic streams into small uniform flakes or regrinds.

As one of our most sold type of plastic recycling machine, these granulators are packaged in many of our complete recycling solutions including our popular PET bottle washing lines, plastic film recycling lines, and more.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

At the core of our plastic granulator machine is an open rotor mounted with heavy-duty knives in either a double-scissor cut or v-shape array based on your requirements. As the rotor is spun at high speeds, the rotor knives come in contact with stationary knives that are mounted within the cutting chamber. The material is continuously cut until they are small enough to pass through a screen filter.

Generally speaking, our filter screens are between 10mm to 100mm but can be customized according to your requirements.

Our standard plastic granulator houses 12 rotor and 3 stationary knives. All knives use only ultra durable D2 (equivalent to SDK11) high-carbon, high-chromium steel which ensures the longest usage times before requiring sharpening. All knives are easily adjustable with hydraulic assisted access to the cutting chamber.

APPLICATIONS

This general purpose plastic granulator can be used in a variety of applications for plastic recycling including but not limited to grinding plastic bottles, films, and a variety of small rigid plastics.

For added convenience, we also offer wet plastic granulator machines that have additional rubber sealing and water inlet hose attached allowing a constant stream of water to be sprayed while the plastic is being cut. This helps clean the plastic scrap while keeping the blades cool during operation.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Model #Rotor DiameterRotor WidthRotating SpeedApprox. OutputMotor PowerSWHB600⌀450mm600mm400-600 rpm300 kg/h37KWSWHB800⌀500mm800mm400-600 rpm600 kg/h45KWSWHB1000⌀600mm1000mm400-600 rpm900 kg/h75KWSWHB1200⌀700mm1200mm400-600 rpm1200 kg/h90KW*CE certification available.
*Larger, more powerful models available based on your request.

PLASTIC GRANULATORS VS SHREDDER MACHINES

Plastic recycling granulators are high-speed machines capable of cutting smaller-sized, thin plastics into flakes and fine regrinds. Due to it’s fast rotation speeds, the operator must be careful not to have hard contaminants such as metals or rocks in the input stream. Metals such as nuts and bolts will easily damage the machine including very easily chipping the cutting blades. To ensure metals are not not present, we suggest adding a magnetic suspension separator above the conveyor system.

Plastic shredder machines while also used in size reduction in plastic recycling are low-speed, more robust machines capable of cutting large pieces of plastic. They are also more forgiving with contaminants. Therefore, plastic shredders are often used to precut large pieces of plastic into smaller sizes suitable for use in plastic granulators. The granulator then further reduces the plastic into flakes or regrinds.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES

WARRANTY

All recycling machines come with a 1 year limited warranty.

INQUIRIES

To get the latest prices and lead times, send us a message using the form below.

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