Pelletizing

The cutting chamber of a granulator is where the most critical processes occur. It also contains the most essential replacement parts on your granulator, your knives. When the cutting edge of a granulator knife fails, the machine must use more energy cut. A failed knife edge also increases dust and fines, leads to poor regrind quality, and prevents the ability to produce uniform particle-size.

By concentrating on precision, one arrives at technique, but by concentrating on technique, one does not arrive at precision. “ Bruno Walter

A Balance of Toughness and Wear Resistance

The most common reason for premature granulator blade failure is improper blade selection. D2 steel hardened up to 59HRC Rockwell is commonly used to manufacture these knives and is appropriate for many applications. However, since every granulating operation is unique, it is imperative that processors evaluate their blade

As a vital step in many production processes, granulating reduces materials, such as plastics, metals, and films so that it can be repurposed into other products. As the importance of reducing the amount of waste that enters landfills becomes more evident, granulating operations are increasing and facilities are looking for ways to improve efficiency and output.

Granulators with well-fit, sharp knives produce regrinds of a uniform size that are free from dust and fines while dull, ill-fitting blades do just the opposite, producing regrinds of various sizes that are peppered with dust and fines. Ill-fitting granulator blades also cause premature wearing of the knives and make it more difficult to accurately set the gap.

The gap between the rotor knife and the bed knife must be set based on the widest knife in the machine. When knives are not uniformly sized, gap increases cause inefficiencies. For example,

As a pelletizer, you understand the costs associated with downtime. You also understand the costs associated with procuring new blades and rotors. But did you know that you can control these costs with proper blade inspections and maintenance?

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. “ Mark Twain

When the Unexpected Happens

While facilities that pelletize polypropylene materials, often run clean environments we understand that there are occasions when accidents do happen. Some of these customers run carbide inlaid pelletizer blades that are composed of a cold rolled steel, such as 17-4 or 440, and a solid carbide inlay that is brazed to the steel surface.

An ACE customer recently experienced the unexpected first-hand when a foreign object entered the pelletizer and reduced the carbide-inlaid mounted blade

Granulating blades endure some of the most grueling conditions in the size reduction industry. Granulating hard plastics, paper, and other materials dull knives and lead to frequent blade changes. During this maintenance action, the machine is down and production is halted.

However, precision sharpening of these blades dramatically increases both the life of the blade and improves the output of the granulator. Machines that utilize precision sharpened blades operate more efficiently, which increases the overall output of the machine while simultaneously creating more consistency in the output

Precision sharpeners utilize sharpening equipment and processes specifically developed for the maintenance of these type of blades. Blades are returned to the customer in like-new condition, in both straightness and tolerance. This ensures

To optimize your granulator production and adequately plan for downtime, understand when your granulator blades are performing as efficiently as possible and when a maintenance action may soon be required. For granulating operations, performing preventative maintenance can save hours of unplanned downtime and increase the safety of the processing environment. However, for many granulators, maintenance is performed just-in-time (JIT), which requires recognizing the early warning signs of a maintenance condition.

Proper preparation prevents poor performance. - Charlie Batch

Is Your Granulator Working Too Hard?

As granulator blades dull, the granulator requires more electricity to perform. Check amp readings of your granulator just after maintenance is performed and note the values.