GB2450888A

GB2450888A - A method of treating filter elements

Info

Publication number: GB2450888A
Application number: GB0713367A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sergei Botov
Original assignee: FG TECHNOLOGIES Ltd
Current assignee: FG TECHNOLOGIES Ltd
Priority date: 2007-07-10
Filing date: 2007-07-10
Publication date: 2009-01-14
Also published as: GB0713367D0

Abstract

A method of treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the method comprising providing a filter element; and forming granules from the filter element. The invention also provides an apparatus (1) for treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the apparatus comprising a fragmenter (4) for producing fragments from the filter element and a granulator (8) for producing granules of plastics material from the fragments. The fragmenter (4) may be a shredder and the granulator (8) may be a cone mill.

Description

nteUectual Office Fc Ci)alii'itv,)i ii(.)tii)ii Aplliialioii No

(1130713367.1 RTM l)alc 8 Noveinhci 2007 The following terms are registered trademarks and should he read as such wherever they occur in this document: Untha Tyco Gericke Corn 1 Quadro UK Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office A fLV1 W 2450888 Apparatus and method of treating filter elements The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for treating filter elements comprising plastics material.

Filter elements are those components of filters that are used to remove contaminants, such as particulates, from fluids, such as fuel, oil or hydraulic fluid. Filter elements made from plastics materials are known. At the end of their lives, these filter elements are disposed of, typically in landfill sites. Disposing of waste in landfill sites has serious environmental implications.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for

mitigating the problems of the prior art.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the apparatus comprising: (i) a fragmenter for producing fragments from the filter element; and (ii) a granulator for producing granules of plastics material from the fragments.

The present invention provides an apparatus for producing granules of plastics material which may be used again.

Granules typically have a mean largest dimension of from 0.2mm to 10mm, preferably from 0.5mm to 5mm, more preferably 1mm to 4mm and further more preferably from 1mm to 2mm. The mean largest dimension of the fragments will typically be greater than that of the granules and lower than the largest dimension of the filter element from which the fragments are produced. The mean largest dimension of the fragments may typically be from 2mm to 50mm, preferably 5mm to 30mm and more preferably from 10mm to 25mm.

The apparatus may also comprise a means of removing non-plastics material, such as metallic material. The means of removing non-plastics material may be a metal extractor. The metal extractor may comprise a means for separating magnetic material from plastics material. This provides a convenient way of separating ferrous materials from plastics material.

The means of removing non-plastics material may be operable to extract non-plastics material from the fragments.

Alternatively and additionally, the means of removing non-plastics material may be operable to extract non-plastics material from the granules.

The apparatus may also comprise a conveyor for moving fragments to the granulator. This conveyor may be a belt or screw conveyor, for example.

The apparatus may be arranged so that fragments may be delivered from the fragmenter to the granulator by the action of gravity. This may typically be achieved by providing the fragmenter with an outlet for the egress of fragments and by providing the granulator with an inlet for the ingress of fragments, the outlet of the fragmenter being located, in use, above the inlet of the granulator. This may typically be achieved by locating the fragmenter above the granulator.

The fragmenter may comprise a shredder, such as a rotating shaft shredder. The shredder may comprise a plurality of rotating shafts. It is preferred that the shredder is a four-shaft shredder.

The granulator may comprise a mill, such as a cone mill.

The apparatus may comprise a means for moving a filter element to the fragmenter, such as a conveyor. I0

The apparatus may comprise a container for receiving granules from the granulator. The container may, for example, comprise a silo. The apparatus may comprise means for urging granules from the granulator into the container.

The means for urging granules from the granulator into the container may comprise a vacuum pump.

The apparatus may a means for mixing the granules. The means for mixing the granules may comprise a mixer vessel arranged to receive granules from the container. Alternatively, the container may be provided with a means for mixing the granules.

The apparatus may also comprise a receptacle for the storage of non-plastics material. The receptacle may be arranged to receive non-plastics material from the means for removing non-plastics material.

The filter element which may be processed using the apparatus of the present invention may comprise a polymeric blend. The filter element may comprise at least 50% (preferably at least 70% and more preferably at least 80%) d by weight of plastics material. The filter element may be provided with one or metal fitmerits, such as a metallic end cap or the like.

The apparatus may further comprise a washing device. The washing device may preferably be suitable for washing filter elements. It is preferred that the washing device is provided with a source of ultrasonic waves. This enables washing to be performed using ultrasound.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the method comprising: (I) providing a filter element; and (ii) forming granules from the filter element.

The size of the granules produced may be as described above with reference to the apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention.

The method of the present invention provides granules of plastics material which may be processed as other granular plastics materials are processed. For example, the granules of plastics material produced using the method of the second aspect of the present invention may be mixed. The granules may be mixed with other granular material, such as granules of virgin plastics material ("virgin" indicating that the plastics material has not been used and then recycled).

The filter element may comprise a polymeric blend.

The method of the present invention is especially preferred when the filter element has a high plastics content. The filter element may comprise at least 50% (preferably at least 70% and more preferably at least 80%) by weight of plastics material. The filter element may be provided with one or metal fitments, such as a metallic end cap or the like. It is preferred that, with the exception of the one or more metal fitments, the filter element may comprise at least 90% (preferably at least 95% and more preferably at least 98%) by weight of plastics material.

The process of forming granules from the filter element may comprise the sequential steps of producing fragments from the filter element and then forming granules from said fragments. The fragments will typically be larger than the granules. The process of forming granules from the filter element may comprise producing fragments (for example, by using a fragmenter), moving the fragments (for example, from a fragmenter to a granulator) and then forming granules from said fragments (for example, by using a granulator) . The process of moving the fragments may use a conveyor, such as a screw conveyor or a belt conveyor.

The size of the fragments produced may be as described above with reference to the apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention.

The step of producing fragments may comprise cutting the filter element. This may be performed using a shredder, for example. The method of the present invention may therefore comprise providing a shredder. Forming granules from the fragments may be performed using shearing. This may be performed, for example, by using a mill, such as a cone mill. The method of the present invention may therefore comprise providing a mill.

The method of the present invention may comprise removing non-plastics material. This may occur before forming granules. The step of removing non-plastics materials preferably occurs after the production of fragments, but before the formation of granules from the fragments. The non-plastics material of most concern is generally metal, and so the method of the present invention preferably comprises removing metallic material. Magnetic metallic material is conveniently removed using a magnetic field. The method of the present invention may therefore comprise providing a magnetic field for removing magnetic material.

The method of the present invention may comprise mixing the granules. The granules may be mixed alone or mixed with additional material, such as other granular materials. The method of the present invention may therefore comprise transferring the granules to a mixer.

The method may further comprise making an item from the granules. It is preferred that the method further comprises making a filter element from the granules. This may involve mixing the granules. This may also involve heating the granules and forming the item from the heated granules. The making of an item may also comprise providing additional materials, such as other granular materials.

It is preferred that step (i) comprises providing a plurality of filter elements, and step (ii) comprises forming granules from the plurality of filter elements.

Likewise, it is preferred that the method comprises producing fragments from a plurality of filter elements and then forming granules from the fragments.

It is preferred that the method comprises grouping a plurality of filter element together and producing fragments from the group of filter elements. The grouping may occur in an apparatus in which the fragment production occurs, for example by conveying filter elements into the apparatus.

The method may comprise washing one or more of the filter element, fragment or granules. Ultrasonic cleaning may be used, especially if the method comprises washing a filter element.

The method may comprise providing an apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention.

The present invention is described by way of example only with reference to Figure 1 which is a schematic view of an embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention.

The apparatus for treating filter elements is shown generally be reference numeral 1 and comprises a fragmenter 4 (in the form of a shredder) for forming fragments from filter elements and a granulator 8 (in the form of a cone mill) . The apparatus further comprises a conveyor 2 for moving filter elements from a loading area 12 to a hopper 3.

The hopper 3 is situated above shredder 4 so that filter elements in the hopper are fed to the shredder. Fragments of filter elements are dispensed from the lower portion of the shredder 4 through chute 13 to a metal removing device 7.

The metal removing device 7 removes ferrous and other magnetic materials into a metal-storing container 9 using conveyor 5. The fragment-receiving hopper 6 is located above the cone mill 8 so that fragments pass through the fragment-receiving hopper 6 into the cone mill 8. The cone mill produces granules of the desired size which then pass into silo 10. Silo 10 is in communication with a mixer 11 which mixes granules together. The mixed granules may then be stored for future use or may be transferred to further processing equipment (such as moulding equipment) to manufacture items, such as filter elements.

The apparatus and method of treating the filter elements will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 1. A conveyor 2 transports filter elements (not shown) from a loading area 12 to the hopper 3. The filter elements in this example comprise two metallic (steel) fitments attached one at either end of a filter element body essentially made from plastics material. The filter element body is essentially cylindrical and one metallic fitment is provided at each end of the cylinder. The metallic fitments allow the filter elements to be readily incorporated into a filter element holder, such as the housing of a fuel or oil filter. The filter elements fall from the hopper 3 into the shredder 4. The shredder 4 comprises four rotatable shafts upon which are mounted cutting teeth. The shafts and teeth are arranged so that rotation of adjacent shafts produces a cutting action. A section of screen is placed in proximity to each of the rotatable shafts, these sections of screen being labelled together by reference numeral 14. Each section of screen is provided with holes of about 15mm diameter. Fragments pass through these holes if sufficiently small. Fragments are processed until they are sufficiently small to pass through the holes in the screen 14. In the present example, there will be fragments of plastics material and fragments of steel pass through the holes in the screen. The shredder 4 is capable of shredding both plastics material and metal, such as steel. Examples of shredders which may be used are the RS-40 UNTHA four-shaft shredder from Tyco/Untha International (Illinois, USA) and the QR series shredders (Komar Industries, Groveport, Ohio, USA) Fragments which have passed through the screen pass through chute 13 to a metal removing device 7. The metal removing device uses magnetic fields to extract fragments comprising magnetic material (such as steel) . Fragments comprising magnetic material are transferred onto conveyor 5. The material removed by the metal removing device passes into metal-storing container 9. The metal removing device may, for example, be a VigiFlex magnetic separator (Société de Tôleric Industrielle Francaise, Saint Georges sur Loire, France) Plastics fragments pass through the metal removing device 7 and into the fragment-receiving hopper 6. Fragments received by the fragment-receiving hopper 6 are substantially free of magnetic material. Fragments are then transferred from the fragment-receiving hopper 6 by gravity into the cone mill 8.

The plastics fragments are delivered into a cone mill hopper (not labelled) . The cone miii 8 comprises a grinding rotor which rotates at a relatively low velocity. The rotor forces the fragment feedstock into a vortex flow path. The feedstock is thrown out to the wall of the cone mill hopper.

Individual particles of feedstock then rise in a spiralling fashion against the wall of the mill hopper. This movement causes the particles of feedstock to be reduced in size.

Once the particles are below a certain size, they are no longer engaged by the rotor and wall and fall down through a chute (not labelled) at the bottom of the cone mill hopper.

The granules so made typically have a mean largest dimension of about 1.5mm, and these granules are fed into the silo 10.

The cone mill may be, for example, a Cone Nibbler (Gericke AG, Switzerland), a Kek cone mill (Kemutec Powder Technologies, Bristol, Pennsylvania, USA) or a Comil cone mill (Quadro Engineering LP, Ontario, Canada) The silo 10 is provided with a vacuum system (not shown) for urging the granules from the cone mill into the silo. The vacuum system also urges granules from the silo to the mixer 11 where granules are mixed.

Claims

H

Claims 1. A method of treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the method comprising: (1) providing a filter element; and (ii) forming granules from the filter element.
2. A method according to claim 1 where2.n the granules have a mean largest dimension of from 1mm to 4mm.
3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 comprising the sequential steps of producing fragments of a first size and then forming granules from said fragments.
4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the mean largest dimension of the fragments is from 10mm to 25mm.
5. A method according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the step of producing fragments comprises cutting the filter element.
6. A method according to any one preceding claim wherein the step of forming granules comprises use of a mill.
7. A method according to any one preceding claim comprising removing non-plastics material.
B. A method according to claim 7 when dependent on claim 3 and claim 3 when dependent on any of claims 4 to 6 when further dependent on claim 3, wherein removing non-plastics material occurs after the production of fragments but before forming granules.
9. A method according to claim 7 or 8 comprising providing a magnetic field for the removing of magnetic material.
10. A method according to any one preceding claim comprising mixing the granules.
11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the granules are mixed with additional material.
12. A method according to any one preceding claim comprising making an item from the granules.
13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the item is a filter element.
14. A method according to any preceding claim wherein step (i) comprises providing a plurality of filter elements, and step (ii) comprises forming granules from the plurality of filter elements.
15. A method according to claim 14 when dependent on claim 3 and claim 14 when dependent on any of claims 4 to 13 when dependent on claim 3, comprising producing fragments from a plurality of filter elements and then forming granules from the fragments.
16. A method according to claim 15 comprising grouping a plurality of filter element together and producing fragments from the group of filter elements.
17. A method according to any preceding claim comprising washing one or more of the filter element, fragment or granules.
18. A method according to claim 17, wherein ultrasonic cleaning is used.
19. An apparatus for treating a filter element comprising plastics material, the apparatus comprising: (i) a fragmenter for producing fragments from the filter element; and (ii) a granulator for producing granules of plastics material from the fragments.
20. An apparatus according to claim 19 comprising a means of removing non-plastics material.
21. An apparatus according to claim 20 wherein the means of removing non-plastics material is a metal extractor.
22. An apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the metal extractor may comprise a means for separating magnetic material from plastics material.
23. An apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the means of removing non-plastics material is operable to extract non-plastics material from the fragments.
24. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 22, the apparatus comprising a conveyor for moving fragments to the granulator.
25. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 23 arranged so that fragments may be delivered from the fragmenter to the granulator by the action of gravity.
26. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 25, the fragrnenter comprising a shredder.
27. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 26, the granulator comprising a mill.
28. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 27, the apparatus comprising a means for moving a filter element to the fragmenter.
29. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 28, the apparatus comprising a washing device.
30. An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the washing device is suitable for washing filter elements.
31. An apparatus according to claim 29 or claim 30, wherein the washing device is provided with a source of ultrasonic waves.
32. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 31 comprising a container for receiving granules from the granulator.
33. An apparatus according to claim 32 comprising a means for urging granules from the granulator into the container.
34. An apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 33 comprising a means for mixing the granules.
35. An apparatus according to claim 34 wherein the means for mixing the granules comprises a mixer vessel arranged to receive granules from the container.