Hydraulic separation of plastic wastes: Analysis of liquid-solid interaction

The separation of plastic wastes in mechanical recycling plants is the process that ensures high-quality secondary raw materials. An innovative device employing a wet technology for particle separation is presented in this work. Due to the combination of the characteristic flow pattern developing within the apparatus and density, shape and size differences among two or more polymers, it allows their separation into two products, one collected within the instrument and the other one expelled through its outlet ducts. The kinematic investigation of the fluid flowing within the apparatus seeded with a passive tracer was conducted via image analysis for different hydraulic configurations. The two-dimensional turbulent kinetic energy results strictly connected to the apparatus separation efficacy. Image analysis was also employed to study the behaviour of mixtures of passive tracer and plastic particles with different physical characteristics in order to understand the coupling regime between fluid and solid phases. The two-dimensional turbulent kinetic energy analysis turned out to be fundamental to this aim. For the tested operating conditions, two-way coupling takes place, i.e., the fluid exerts an influence on the plastic particle and the opposite occurs too. Image analysis confirms the outcomes from the investigation of the two-phase flow via non-dimensional numbers (particle Reynolds number, Stokes number and solid phase volume fraction).