Test labs benefit from tiny granulator

Size reduction at the lab scale is the mission of a new small-scale granulator from Dynisco that handles a wide variety of parts and scrap cleanly and efficiently. "This granulator is ideal for grinding production plastic parts for material testing and analysis," says Matthew Caslow, global support manager at Dynisco Instruments (Franklin, MA). "It also allows technicians to granulate lab scrap such as samples from melt-flow tests, rheometer tests, tensile tests and capillary rheometer tests and keep this material out of the waste stream."

Dynisco's granulator is powered by a 5-hp electric motor, which drives an oversized flywheel to increase rotational momentum and decrease energy consumption. The slow-speed (200-rpm) rotor has three rotating knives and two stationary bed knives counter-slanted to produce a scissor-like cut. These features help produce a clean consistent regrind with a minimum of dust and fines. Along with rotating sidewalls in the 6.5- by 8-inch cutting chamber, they also minimize heat generation to prevent the polymer from softening and smearing during granulation. Three different screen sizes are available to produce regrind from 3/16 to 5/16 inch. Screens are reversible for service longevity.

The clamshell-design cutting chamber design and drop-down screen cradle allows easy access during cleaning and knife changes. All maintenance can be performed from the front of the machine.

Options can include automatic vacuum or compressed-air unloading of the granulate catch bin, bin-level indicator light or signal to unloading system, sound enclosure, and clean-room design with fully baffled in-feed and HEPA filtration.-[email protected]