| Since our early work and the awarding of a patent in the early
80ís for continuous solid state polymerization (SSP)
we have worked on development of equipment solely for the processing
of polyesters.
Bepex has licensed and installed hundreds of SSP (solid state polymerization) lines in
the past 35 years with world-class customers. These solid state polymerization lines
are producing a variety of high viscosity chips for the packaging
and industrial yarn markets.
Versatility of our solid state polymerization lines as well as the diversity of what
we are capable of supplying helps us find the best solution
to our customers' needs.
As a technology supplier for the polymer industry, our experience
with commodity products has prepared us to help our customer
in the quickly changing polyester industry.
We design our own equipment, and constantly work to improve
existing designs while developing new ones altogether in order
to meet our customer's unique requirements. The applications
of particular interest to the polyester producer are given
below.
Crystallizing/Drying
Processing polyester chips normally starts with a crystallizing
and drying step. This step is required in extruding the chips
for spinning textile fiber, packaging film, injection molding
bottles or solid state polymerizing. Bepex offers unique equipment
and process technology solutions which are well proven, reliable
and cost effective in this application. Process capacities
can range from 25 kg/hr to 25,000 kg/hr.
Solid State Polymerizing
Solid State Polymerizing SSP consists of a series of processing steps including holding
the chips at reaction temperatures and time periods to achieve
the required increase in molecular weight in a reactor. Molecular
weight (Mn) increases in the industry range from 2,000 to
20,000 and capacities range from 25 kg/hr to 30,000 kg/hr.
Bepex offers specially designed reactors that provide plug-flow
material handling combined with uniform gas distribution that
is unmatched in the industry.
Dedusting/Cooling
The quality of the finished products such as fiber, film and
bottles can be significantly impaired by the presence of dust
in polyester chips. This dust is removed prior to packaging
the crystallized or solid state polymerized chips. Bepex offers
an efficient deduster which also functions as a chip cooler.
Capacity ranges from 25 kg/hr to 30,000 kg/hr are available.
Gas Purification
Drying as well as solid state polymerizing polyester chips
requires hot gas low in particulate matter, moisture and volatile
organics. Since nitrogen is used in many instances, purifying
and recycling the process gas is essential from the viewpoint
of process economics and environmental protection. Bepex offers
three types of gas purifications systems with capacities ranging
from 500 Nm3/hr to 15,000 Nm3/hr. |
