Checking Intrinsic Viscosity with the Mflow
The RCS Group is made up of the three units Waste Management, Raw Materials Recycling and PCS Plastics.The latter focuses on processing plastic flakes into high-quality food grade recycled granulate.To test the intrinsic viscosity (IV) of PET recycled granulate, RCS relies on the modular Mflow extrusion plastometer from ZwickRoell.
At RCS Plastics, the Mflow is used exclusively for recycled granulate. RCS Plastics further processes the PET flakes from the RCS recycling into high-quality and food-grade recycled granulate.
As part of the recycling process, a high-quality product is obtained from a secondary raw material, which can be especially used to manufacture beverage bottles. In bottle manufacturing, the intrinsic viscosity of rPET is decisive for production. If it does not correspond with the specified requirements, production must be stopped and the granulate must be inspected. Only when the granulate meets the high-quality demands, can production be continued.
To determine the IV values, the granulate is poured into the preheated (to 285°C) Mflow extrusion plastometer. After the preheating time has elapsed, the weight is added and the MFR is determined. The testing software automatically converts the MFR value into the IV value.
“We deliberately chose the Mflow from ZwickRoell, not only because of its ability to test granulate almost fully automatically, but we were also impressed with the pneumatic weight lifting unit and the automatic extrudate cutter,” said Mr. Renner, Quality Manager at RCS Plastics GmbH.
The Mflow can be operated as a stand-alone instrument via a modern touch display, or from the PC with ZwickRoell’s testXpert III testing software. Thanks to the new, standardized operating philosophy, the user can easily switch between the instrument and the PC.
