RSFgenius M Filtration Systems Up and Running In South America

German equipment supplier Gneuss says its RSFgenius M filtration systems are now running successfully in several recycling applications, including two in South America. These two machines were started up within weeks from each other.

The new RSFgenius M model can cope with even higher contamination rates thanks to the synchronization of the drive and back-flushing mechanism. This further optimizes the unique self-cleaning technology resulting in a significant increase of screen capacity as well as a reduction of the quantity of material lost through backflushing. One of the main differences to other backflushing screen changers is the pressure and process consistency this system provides, a company spokesperson told Plastics Technology. The RSFgenius M does not reduce the active screen area during screen changes or backflushing, therefore a pressure consistency of +/- 30 psi can be guaranteed.

The Brazilian company Brandt is running the RSFgenius M 150, which exchanged a slide plate screen changer on a 380 kg/h repelletizing line. This extruder processes 100% PP and PE reclaim into pellets for injection molding. Before the RSFgenius M was installed, the line couldn’t handle all available materials in order to “minimize” the disruptions caused by frequent screen changes. With the fully-automatic RSFgenius M, all incoming materials are now being processed and with no disruptions for screen changes and the overall line output has been increased by about 1000 kg/day. At the same time, thanks to finer screens, the end product quality has been increased.

Whereas for the Argentina-based company Reteplast, the RSFgenius M 150 replaced a slide plate screen changer on a 400 kg/h repelletizing extruder. Here, 100% reclaim, mainly PP, ABS and PE, is processed into pellets, also for injection molding applications.

In the past, the material had to be washed before the extrusion process in order to separate paper contamination. With the RSFgenius M, this extra step is not necessary any more. The melt is now automatically filtered to 250 microns, without any disruptions or disturbances.

"When we chose the Gneuss RSFgenius M 150 filtration system, we knew we were investing in the growth of our products and services both in quantity and in quality,” said Orlando Meza, general manager of Reteplast. “But we did not realize then how much growth and improvement we would get. The new filtration system reduces the number of steps our material has to go through, and among other benefits, it provides huge waste savings, increased productivity and better filtration quality.”