Case Study: Mixed Broken Glass Cleaning

Challenge
A Midwest recycling center had placed an air-knife unit to remove paper from their mixed broken glass, but found that many items contained in the end product still contained contaminations such as plastic caps, aluminum cans, and plastics. This company came to General Kinematics to look for an air-knife solution to provide a cleaner glass stream.

Approach
At the General Kinematics facility, GK’s team of engineers prepared a demonstration on how to improve upon the customer’s own air-knife design, but upon viewing the material, determined that a pre-screen prior to the knife may allow the recycling center to provide a clean glass stream to satisfy the end user’s requirements.

With the mixture of product and the presence of moisture, General Kinematics needed to provide a solution that would allow for fine screening (3/8”-) while providing a clean glass stream.

Solution
General Kinematics utilized our proven Rod Deck Screen to demonstrate the benefits of pre-screening, verifing the demonstration results with the recycling center’s end user. Once all demonstration and qualification was complete, GK provided a new unit to be retrofitted into the customer’s existing process system.

Results
Once installed, the rod deck enabled the removal and recovery of plastics, aluminum, and stainless steel while providing a clean, saleable glass stream.