A granulator is used in plastic processing. They are built with a high-speed rotor that can produce small to medium sized plastic pieces.
Granulators are used mostly in manufacturing plants to break down plastic into smaller pieces such as resin or flakes. They can also use smaller pieces of plastic to form plastic pellets.
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Different types of granulators
There are 4 different types of granulators, each one built with a specific function and to produce results: beside-the-press granulators, low-speed granulators, shredder-granulator, and central granulators.
These types can be broken down even further into 2 different methods of processing: dry granulator and wet granulator. A dry granulator is commonly used in thermoforming, extruding, and plastic molding. A wet granulator uses lots of water and products and is used to wash materials and to cool itself down.
Common functions of the 4 types of granulators listed above
To understand more about how granulators can add value to your business, it may be helpful to see how each type of granulator works and the outcome produced.
- Beside-the-press granulators. Under-the-press granulators fall within this category as well. These two types of granulators can be fitted into extrusion or molding systems, where inline recycling can then happen. These granulators can process products such as runners, gates, sprues, and flashes that do not fit as they are made.
- Low speed granulators. These types of granulators are built with low-speed rotors that have many teeth. This works to reduce items like gates, sprues, and runners.
- Shredder granulators. Shredder, or combination, granulators act as a 2-in-1 machine that can both shred larger materials and then break them down further into granules. Shredders can process items that are not only larger but denser and heavier as well. Once these materials are processed, then they can go through the granulator function to be processed into pellets. These machines also hold sensor-based monitoring which improves the reliability of the equipment. Bonus points for eliminating the need for a transitional conveyer between pieces of equipment.
Central granulators. Central granulators are great for constant feeding of process and stream materials that are larger in size. They are commonly used for large injection, blow-molded scrap and plastic purgings. Because it has a high capacity it is a favorite for holding a high capacity of material processing.
