METHOD FOR SPHEROIDIZATION OF POLYSTYRENE POWDER PARTICLES USING A GAS DISCHARGE UNIT Russian patent published in 2022 - IPC B29C59/14 C08J11/00 B29B17/00 B29B9/16 

FIELD: chemical industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method for spheroidization of waste polystyrene powders using a gas discharge unit and relates to the processing of polymer materials. The method for recycling waste polystyrene powders can be used in additive manufacturing, the construction, aviation and machine-building industries, where recycling of waste polymer materials and their preparation for reuse is required. The method for spheroidization of polystyrene powder waste consists in the fact that polystyrene powder waste is crushed in a cryogenic mill to a particle size of 50-80 microns, then the resulting polystyrene powder particles are placed in a plasmatron powder receiver, then a plasmatron is launched, generating a plasma jet formed by an inert gas flow with a temperature of 80-90°C and a speed of 10-15 m/s, then the gate of the plasmatron powder receiver is opened, while polystyrene powder particles fall into the plasma jet plasmatron, then polystyrene powder particles fall into the discharge zone, in which 2-4 electric independent DC arcs with a power of up to 1 kW are generated, while polystyrene powder particles are spheroidized by melting their surfaces, then spherical powder particles are fed into a separate chamber, where they cool down to room temperature.

EFFECT: providing a method for spheroidization of polystyrene powder waste particles, making it possible to obtain spherical particles with a smooth surface without significant deviations in the physical and chemical properties of polystyrene.

1 cl, 4 ex