Customer Input Helps Guides V-ECO Development : The Evolution of Vecoplan’s Shredders for Waste Plastics & Other Materials
Shredding equipment manufacturer Vecoplan’s V-ECO has undergone continuous development in collaboration with recyclers processing almost all types of waste plastics and other materials.
According to the company, the V-ECO is energy efficient, powerful, and versatile. Developed in cooperation with customers, the engineers have designed the machine to handle extreme use. It can shred foils, fabrics, fibre materials, hard plastics and even big bags – and maintain a high and constant output quality.
Area Sales Manager at Vecoplan AG based in Bad Marienberg in the Westerwald points to the V-ECO, which shredding large numbers of big bags in the company’s own technology centre.
“This polypropylene fibre material is difficult to process,” he explained. This is a challenge for many plastics processors, especially because the topic of in-house recycling is becoming more and more relevant for cost reasons.
Besides big bags, processors often have to be able to shred completely different fabric or fibre materials, which are said to be difficult to handle because of their properties. Mostly they use different shredders for this – but it’s expensive purchasing the various machines and they take up an enormous amount of space.
Continuous improvement
In 2013, Vecoplan presented the V-ECO for the first time to a professional public at the K in Düsseldorf, the international fair for plastics and rubber . Currently around 80 processors worldwide are now using the machine.
The company said that the machine’s attraction is its energy-efficient and flexible method of operation. However, the shredder only gradually showed what it was really capable of during various projects.
“Over the past few years, customers have approached us with more and more new applications,” said Klotz. “Among these were difficult materials which were to be shredded qualitatively and at a high throughput – besides big bags, there were nets, ropes, foils, hard and technical plastics, fabric or fibre materials – and even the so-called Angel’s Hair.”
These wafer-thin threads not only interfere with production, they also lead to quality losses in processing. During shredding, they can quickly get wound around the rotor. “Then everything stops,” said Klotz.
In almost 160 test runs, the Vecoplan said that its developers designed the ideal rotor geometries together with the users – even for Angel’s Hair, which is delivered to the plant in balls. “We can change the rotors, blades and screen to adapt the V-ECO to the input and output requirements, to even match the nets and ropes that are very difficult to handle”, added Klotz. “The performance can be precisely matched to the interface.”
Maintenance & Operation
The V-ECO’s hydraulically-swivelling bottom flap and downward swivelling screen allow the operator easy access to the rotor. Extraneous material can be removed by turning or exchanging the counter knife or convert the machine – to change the screen perforation when changing products, for instance.
The material is fed continuously into the machine thanks to the inclined design of the machine base and the continuously-adjustable ram control. This ensures a permanent process. A lift-tilt device can feed and shred the material.
For energy-efficient operation Vecoplan said that it has installed the cost-effective ESC drive (Electronic Slip Control).
“This solution makes gears and turbo clutches superfluous”, explained Klotz.
The multipolar, asynchronous motor with its powerful frequency converter works together with a special belt drive that incorporates a sophisticated slip control and an extraneous material detection system with a motor brake.
The developers’ main focus was on a consistently compact machine design. This reduction down to the essentials minimises the susceptibility to failure, optimises the material flow and makes all service and maintenance work easier for users thanks to good accessibility.
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