ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF POLYMER POWDERS

Polyethylene and polyvinylchloride are the most abundant plastic mater ials in municipal waste. However, no technology is commercially availa ble so far for an efficient recovery of these materials. We studied th e separation of polyethylene (PE) from polyvinylchloride (PVC) powder particles in an electric field separator after tribocharging. Tribocha rging of the particles took place in a copper-lined cyclone separator. The influence of electric field strength, relative humidity of the ai r and particle velocity on the separation efficiency was investigated. The average recovered content of the PE fractions was >90% at a mass yield of >60%. The average recovered content of PVC was >40% with an a verage mass yield of >30%.