EuroWire March 2025

Technology News

Sorting solution for XLPE pellets Plastics are diverse owing to their properties and applications, and each market has its own requirements. The sorting requirements are also very individual, differing significantly between the XLPE market and standard plastics, for example. The Purity Scanner Advanced inspection and sorting system from Sikora is designed to meet sorting requirements beyond the identifying of different materials, cross-contamination or coarse impurities. In addition to the targeted detection and sorting out of the smallest black specks and yellowing, the seamless detection and sorting out of the smallest metal particles is indispensable. It is also essential that the material transport and the type of sorting itself do not introduce any additional external contamination into the material flow.

Another criterion is the space in the production environment. The material flow of XLPE runs by gravity, directly from the dust removal on one floor to the sorting on the next floor. Space is limited and a cost factor. Accordingly, the sorting of optical and metallic impurities should be carried out directly on one floor.

The purity requirements for XLPE pellets are high

The sorting should also be carried out in such a way that as little as possible of the good, ie clean, material is sorted out. These requirements were brought to the Sikora development team by XLPE experts from the industry more than ten years ago. The fourth generation of the Purity Scanner Advanced is now used by numerous customers worldwide. The system can precisely sort the smallest impurities in the range of 25 µm, as well as metal particles of 50 µm in size, in a single material pass. The material transport system with a stainless steel channel introduces no impurities, and targeted blowing out with cleaned compressed air causes the least possible ejection of clean material. Sikora AG www.sikora.net

The Purity Scanner Advanced detects and sorts the smallest impurities in the raw material

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March 2025