Hosokawa Micron is a leading player in the Rubber Chopper market with many customers all over the world. Our in-demand Rubber Chopper can be used as a standalone piece of equipment but is often integrated into bespoke process systems, including for turnkey projects.
Our process system experience with Rubber Choppers includes continuous in-line and recirculation-type dispersion systems for secondary processing of synthetic rubbers with styrene and other solvents.
We are happy to collaborate with third-party equipment suppliers and have a successful track record of working with trusted technical partners in order to deliver the optimal solution for either our direct customers or the customers of our industry partners.
The Hosokawa Micron Rubber Chopper is robustly constructed from materials including stainless steel, normal steel and, for the ultimate corrosion resistance, duplex alloy. Perfect for the processing of a wide range of materials, including butadiene, high impact polymer, isoprene, nitriles, styrenes, natural rubber, butyl and reclaim, it is available as a single size unit (PB15) offering power ranges up to 132ku and a heavy-duty design for exceptionally tough grades of rubber.
Production capacity is largely dependent on the raw material being processed, the rotor speed and the power generated under test conditions, but generally speaking the Rubber Chopper is capable of processing from 1.2 to 6 tonnes of material per hour.
The adaptable Rubber Chopper can be fitted with various drive assemblies and chopper configurations to suit customer requirements and features a wear protection discharge barrel.
ATEX-certified versions can be tailor-made to meet European standards, if necessary.
Bale Ram Feeders
The Hosokawa Micron Rubber Chopper can be supplied with an automatic pneumatic bale feeder, which is an extremely popular option for safety and process optimisation reasons.
Most bales of raw material weigh 35kg or more, making them difficult to manage safely when manually fed into the Rubber Chopper. This can lead to bale non-feeding/bridging over the machine rotor, but the pneumatic bale feeder solves this issue, allowing for 100% feeding capability.
The heavy-duty, low maintenance pneumatic bale feeder we have developed addresses and solves those problems by more safely introducing the raw material into the Rubber Chopper mechanism, which results in a more efficient processing speed.
Conveniently, there is no requirement to upgrade the Rubber Chopper’s motor drive or increase the speed of operation to integrate a bale feeder and the bale feeder can also be fitted to the PB15 model without it needing modification.
For hazardous materials or situations, an ATEX-certified version can be supplied for equipment to be used in Europe.
Hosokawa Micron’s Rubber Chopper is used to efficiently and speedily shred and grind bales of all types of rubber prior to dissolving or mixing with other materials, such as solvents, to make a wide range of end products, including the latest generation of energy-efficient tyres, high-performance plastics and adhesives.
The Rubber Chopper is primarily used to shred bulk rubber material that arrives for processing in bale form (35kg+).
The bales are very heavy and normally enter the Rubber Chopper via an optional automatic bale feeder, featuring a pneumatic mechanism for ease of use.
Upon entering the grinding mechanism of the Rubber Chopper, the material to be processed comes into contact with progressive claw primary hammers, which are located at the bottom of the raw material inlet hopper.
The hammers rotate at a low speed of generally between 10-40rpm and transport the material toward the two-piece orifice plate (which is installed at the product outlet side). At the same time, shearing force is generated between the fixed and adjustable anvils and double-ended hammer to chop the material into smaller and smaller pieces that can transit through the orifice holes.
The amount of raw material and motor power that can be processed by the rotor mechanism can be adjusted by simply changing the position of the adjustable anvil.
Cut-off knives shear the processing material as it passes out of the orifice plate, which governs the final size of the material that has been extruded. The knife has its own motor and operates at between 200 and 1,000rpm.
Conveniently, the Rubber Chopper has a two-piece orifice plate, which allows it to be easily removed without disassembling the shaft. The standard orifice plate comes with round holes (with a maximum aperture of 35mm), but we can offer alternative shapes, including spoke slots and similar.
There are several options available for drive assemblies and chopper configurations, which can be chosen depending on the specific nature of the material to be processed and the result that is required.
Our expert sales team has a wealth of technical knowledge and first-hand experience working with many Hosokawa Rubber Chopper customers from several different industry sectors and would be pleased to offer advice and recommendations on the optimal piece of equipment or process system for your requirements.
A Successful Collaboration in Synthetic Rubber Reduction
One of the most long-standing partnerships Hosokawa Micron Ltd has is with Cavitron®, a leading manufacturer of rotor/stator dissolvers based in Germany. We have worked together for more than twenty years to bring to the market innovative high-performance continuous dissolving process systems for the rubber and chemicals industries.
Hosokawa Micron’s contribution – in addition to technical design, engineering and processing expertise – is the design and manufacture of our iconic Rubber Chopper, which is used for the primary grinding of synthetic, natural and recycled rubber bales. This heavy-duty size reduction equipment is an important component of a rubber reduction process system.
For a typical synthetic rubber dissolving process system by Cavitron® and Hosokawa Micron Ltd, large bales of rubber are initially shredded into small granules by our Rubber Chopper. The granules are then conveyed by gravity into the Rotor/Stator Dissolver where the granules are intensely mixed with a chemical which dissolves them into a 95% rubber slurry of uniform high quality. Further processing may be required, which could include heating and agitating the slurry in a large-volume storage vessel to make superior-quality rubber solution.
A two-level, tailor-made system like this is capable of processing up to four tonnes of rubber bales per hour, producing, for example, bulk Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), an extremely popular thermoplastic polymer that can be used to make an endless number of products, such as automotive components, camera cases, sports equipment, pipes, kitchen appliances, hard hats, keyboards, electrical wall sockets and, since 1963, even LEGO® bricks – renowned for their vibrant colour, high gloss, grip, safety and durability. ABS can also be used for injection moulding, medical devices and 3D printing projects.
Not only compatible with processing rubber, the Cavitron® Rotor/Stators are equally useful for processing bitumen, chemicals, pigments, food, paper and cardboard, plastics and petrochemical products.
Hosokawa Micron Ltd has wide-ranging experience and in-depth knowledge of designing, engineering and manufacturing reliable, efficient process systems for customers from a wide range of manufacturing sectors – such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cosmetics, automotive, pigments and ceramics. Our processing knowledge encompasses more than a century of pioneering innovation centred around cutting-edge technology and the latest processing methods.
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