Method and apparatus for reclaiming plastic

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reclaiming component plastics from a mixture of plastics wherein differentials in specific gravity serves as the segregation mechanism. The method includes the steps of: (1) fragmenting the plastic articles such that the resulting plastic fragments are generally of a preferred dimension and contain primarily one such component plastic; (2) sizing the fragmented plastic so as to remove plastic fragments which do not comport to the preferred dimensions; (3) adding a fluid medium to the plastic fragments to produce a slurry; (4) loosening contamination from the plastic fragments; (5) segregating the heavy and light components within the slurry based on specific gravity; (6) isolating the segregated plastic fragments; and (7) cleaning the heavy and light components to produce high purity plastic. The step of segregating is accomplished via an improved segregation vessel which performs specific gravity segregation by reducing the gross linear vertical flow rate of fluid medium through the cooperative action of specifically designed baffle members and the vessel shape. An improved segregation chamber is provided having a pair of semi-permeable members which cooperate to define a separation zone and a segregation zone such that vapor and fluid medium is allowed to flow into the separation zone while the plastic fragments are generally restricted within the segregation zone and the segregation zone serves to reduce the gross linear vertical flow rate of fluid medium toward the outlets.