PELLET CLEANING BY AIR SEPARATION.

In the manufacture of plastics pellets, depending on the process, larger or smaller quantities of fines are produced that are likely to be detrimental to subsequent handling. In addition, during pneumatic conveying, film-like deposits settle on the inside of the conveying pipelines before finally getting detached in the form of long threads that are passed along with the product. These film-like threads have become known as streamers. This paper shows how these contaminants can be separated from pellets by using a diverting-counterflow elutriator which removes fines, streamers, contaminants and dust from the pellet stream - with low energy consumption. The elutriator described can also be used in plastics recycling.