The Growing Waste Challenge
Pulp and paper mills generate over 11 million metric tons of plastic-rich reject waste globally each year . Traditional disposal methods like landfilling cost mills $50–$120/ton while contributing to GHG emissions. With rising landfill taxes and net-zero commitments, converting pulper waste into Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) has become an economically and environmentally strategic imperative.
Why Convert Pulper Waste to RDF?
Energy Recovery
Pulper plastic waste holds 22–28 MJ/kg calorific value – 30% higher than municipal solid waste (Energy Recovery Council 2024). When processed into Premium RDF (EN 15359 standard), it becomes a viable coal replacement for cement kilns and power plants.
Cost Transformation
Waste disposal costs flip to revenue: Premium RDF sells for $40–$80/ton . Mills can achieve ROI in <3 years with integrated processing systems.
Process flow
Preprocessing and reception: The collected wet paper pulp (usually with a moisture content of over 80%) is first sorted to remove large impurities (such as plastic sheets and metal wires), and temporarily stored in a silo or sedimentation tank.
Core dehydration and forming extrusion granulation: This is the most critical step in the process. The wet paper pulp is transported to our core equipment – the high-efficiency paper pulp extrusion granulator. This device integrates powerful mechanical extrusion dehydration and forming granulation functions:
Strong extrusion dehydration: By using a high-pressure spiral or roll pressing system, a large amount of free water and some bound water in the paper pulp are forcefully extruded, significantly reducing the moisture content of the material (usually below 50%) and greatly increasing its calorific value.
Synchronous granulation molding: During or after strong extrusion, the material is forced through specific mold holes and directly extruded and cut into uniform cylindrical or block shaped particles. This not only facilitates subsequent processing, but also benefits the stable combustion of RDF.
Advantages reflected: Our extrusion granulation machine can solve the problems of high moisture content and loose morphology of paper pulp in one step, efficiently producing primary RDF particles with low moisture content, high density, and regular morphology, laying a solid foundation for subsequent processing and significantly reducing overall energy consumption.
Deep drying (optional): Based on the final RDF calorific value requirements and customer needs, primary particles can enter subsequent drying systems for further drying, reducing the moisture content to around 15% -20% and maximizing the fuel calorific value.
Fine processing and quality control (optional): The dried particles can be sieved as needed to remove fine powder (recyclable) and ensure uniform particle size. Simultaneously, online or offline detection of calorific value and moisture content can be performed to ensure stable RDF quality.
Finished product storage and transportation: After qualified RDF particles are cooled, they are transported to the finished product warehouse for storage or directly packaged (ton bags, woven bags), and can be sold as high-quality solid recycled fuel (SRF/RDF) to users such as cement plants, power plants, industrial boilers, etc.
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