Date of Award
6-13-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2017.
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Tim Hight
Second Advisor
Panthea Sepehrbrand
Abstract
Plastic water bottles comprise a large amount of waste worldwide. The goal of the Poly Pelletizer project is to create a system that will turn water bottles into polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pellets compatible with extruders to produce 3-D printer lament, along with other recycling applications.The system promotes a sustainable solution to plastic pollution by giving manufactures, particularly in developing nations, the means to produce their own bulk materials using waste plastic. Shrinking industrial recycling processes to a workbench scale gives individuals the ability to convert excess bottles into seemingly limitless products. The system works by using a dual heating and pressure system to both evenly mix and melt the plastic before pushing the resin through a die. The Poly Pelletizer successfully created pellets using various mixtures of virgin PET and shredded water bottles.
Recommended Citation
Costa-Smith, Logan; Maltzer, Ian; and Martino, James, "Poly Pelletizer: Recycled Pet Pellets From Water Bottles" (2017). Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses. 70.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/mech_senior/70