Indigenous equipment developed for mechanical recycling of waste thermoplastic polymers to composites

Indigenous equipment called single screw extruder developed for mechanical recycling through melt-mixing of waste thermoplastic polymers and inorganic particulate fillers can help manufacture and characterize polymer composites that can be molded to the required shape for making paver blocks, tiles, and bricks.

At present, commercially available melt-mixing equipment are not designed for handling waste thermoplastic polymers that are often adhered by contaminants, as the barrel and screw system are not robust enough.

IIT Bombay has developed an instrument named GolDN (pronounced as Golden) for melt-mixing of waste thermoplastic polymers and inorganic particulate fillers to manufacture polymer composites.

It can carry out melt mixing as a continuous process, particularly in laboratory conditions, to replicate the real-life conditions as compared to other conventionally available instruments. The researchers at the institute considered some key parameters such as compression ratio and clearance depth to facilitate efficient mixing of waste polymers and fillers.

The above technology, developed with the support of Department of Science and Technology (DST) through Waste Management Technologies, is now ready for commercialization for carrying out melt- mixing operations in a laboratory environment. It can bring down the cost of this instrument to INR 5 lakhs (by 6-8 times at least) by avoiding the complex design and operating tools and including the indigenous fabrication that are required.

The researchers have also developed a TGeosA for obtaining thermogravimetric analyses of the polymer composites obtained from the melt mixing instrument. The setup facilitates a sample size as high as 200 g that can incorporate the heterogeneity aspect of the materials being tested.

GolDN

Fig. 1a. GolDN                                                             Fig.1b. TGeosA

Further, a pilot-scale setup for manufacturing polymer composites has been indigenously fabricated. This setup consists of a shredder, a mixer cum preheater, and an extruder to obtain the fresh binder filler composite to shred the plastic waste, mix and preheat plastic waste and IBPs, and melt plastic waste along with IBPs followed by conveying at the end, respectively.

GolDN

Figure 2. (a) shredder, (b) mixer cum preheater, (c) extruder and (d) final product

The technology developed by IIT Bombay in collaboration with Belagavi works of M/s. Hindalco Industries Ltd. (Industry collaborator) is at the TRL-09 and a field-scale plant has been set up. 

GolDN

Figure 3. Image of the tiles and Paver blocks created as a part of trails conducted on field scale setup

Scholarly outcome from the project as of 20.12.2023

International Journal Articles:

  • Goli, V. S. N. S., & Singh, D. N. (2023). Polymer blends manufactured from fresh & landfill mined plastic waste: Are they composites?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 426, 139096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139096 (Impact Factor: 11.10)
  • Goli, V. S. N. S., & Singh, D. N. (2023). Effect of ultrasonication conditions on polyethylene microplastics sourced from landfills: A precursor study to establish guidelines for their extraction from environmental matrices. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 459, 132230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132230 (Impact Factor: 13.60)
  • Goli, V. S. N. S., & Singh, D. N. (2023). Valorization of landfill mined plastic waste and soil-like fractions in polymer composites – A comprehensive solution for sustainable landfill mining. Journal of Cleaner Production, 420, 138349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138349 (Impact Factor: 11.10)
  • Goli, V. S. N. S., & Singh, D. N. (2023). Discussion on “Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of Composite Materials from Industrial Plastic Wastes and Recycled Nylon Fibers for Floor Paving Tiles Application” by Owen et al., Waste Management 166 (2023)          25-34.             Waste                         Management,                        169,                 286-288.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2023.07.013 (Impact Factor: 8.10)

  • Vaverková, M. D., Paleologos, E. K., Goli, V. S. N. S., Koda, E., Mohammad, A., Podlasek, A., Winkler, J., Jakimiuk, A., Černý, M., & Singh, D. N. (2023). Environmental impacts of Landfills: perspectives on biomonitoring. Environmental Geotechnics, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1680/jenge.23.00003 (Impact Factor: 2.20)

 

Copyrights:

  • Beta, P., Goli, V. S. N. S., Singh, P. & Singh, D. N. Converting the temperature values captured from the IR images” following “image fusion with visible light images”. Diary Number: 8762/2023-CO-SW, Date of Application: 03.04.2023 (Indian Copyright).