Underwater vs Water Ring vs Water Jet Pelletizing: Differences & Materials

Time:2025-06-10

Underwater vs Water Ring vs Water Jet Pelletizing: Differences & Materials

Underwater Noodle Type Pelletizing水下面条式造粒

Core Principle & Process:核心原理与流程:

Polymer melt is extruded through a multi-hole die plate of an extruder, forming multiple strands.聚合物熔体通过挤出机的多孔模板挤出,形成多股。

These strands immediately enter a sealed cutting chamber filled with cooling water.这些钢索立即进入一个充满冷却水的密封切割室。

Underwater, high-speed rotating knives press against the die face, cutting the extruded strands into pellets.在水下,高速旋转的刀压在模具表面,将挤出的股切成颗粒。

The freshly cut pellets are fully submerged and rapidly cooled/solidified (quenched) by the water.将新切割的颗粒完全浸入水中并迅速冷却/固化(淬火)。

Pellets and water are conveyed out of the cutting chamber to a dewatering and drying system for separation and drying.颗粒和水被输送出切割室到脱水和干燥系统进行分离和干燥。

Key Features: 主要特点:

Cutting Environment: Entirely underwater.切割环境:完全在水下。

Cooling: Instantaneous quenching upon cutting. Extremely rapid cooling.冷却:切割时瞬间淬火。极快的冷却。

Pellet Morphology: Spherical or oval pellets with smooth surfaces, high dimensional uniformity, and regular geometry (near-cubic or cylindrical). Minimal tail formation.颗粒形态:球形或椭圆形颗粒,表面光滑,尺寸均匀,几何形状规则(近立方或圆柱形)。最小的尾部形成。

Moisture Content: High moisture exiting the chamber requires robust dewatering/drying.水分含量:高水分排出腔室需要强大的脱水/干燥。

Noise & Dust: Low noise (submerged cutting), dust-free.噪音及粉尘:低噪音(水下切割),无尘。

Applicability: 适用性: Ideal for heat-sensitive materials (e.g., PVC, some engineering plastics), high-viscosity materials (e.g., TPU, EVA), and materials requiring rapid quenching for specific crystallization or to prevent sticking. High output. The most widely used wet pelletizing technology.适用于热敏性材料(如PVC,一些工程塑料),高粘度材料(如TPU, EVA)和需要快速淬火以实现特定结晶或防止粘着的材料。高输出。湿式造粒技术应用最为广泛。
Advantages: 优点: High pellet quality (shape, uniformity), rapid cooling, suitable for heat-sensitive/sticky materials, dust-free, low noise, high yield.高颗粒质量(形状、均匀),冷却快,适用于热敏性/粘性物料,无尘,低噪音,产量高。
Disadvantages: 缺点: Complex equipment (sealed chamber), high energy consumption (cooling water & drying), high pellet moisture, large drying systems.复杂的设备(密封室),高能耗(冷却水和干燥),高颗粒水分,大型干燥系统。

Water Ring Pelletizing 水环造粒

Core Principle & Process:核心原理与流程:

Polymer melt is extruded through a multi-hole die plate, forming strands.聚合物熔体通过多孔模板挤出,形成股。

Strands enter a special cutting chamber in an air (or inert gas) environment.钢绞线进入空气(或惰性气体)环境中的特殊切割室。

High-speed rotating knives cut the strands into pellets in air, against the die face.高速旋转的刀在空气中将钢绞线切成颗粒,紧贴模具表面。

Simultaneously, a high-velocity circulating stream of cooling water (“water ring”) is precisely injected near the cutting point, forming a rotating water curtain/ring that envelops the hot pellets for rapid cooling and conveyance.同时,高速循环的冷却水流(“水环”)被精确地注入切割点附近,形成一个旋转的水幕/水环,包裹热颗粒,用于快速冷却和输送。

Pellets are carried away by the water ring to the drying system.颗粒被水环带到干燥系统。

Key Features: 主要特点:

Cutting Environment: Cutting occurs in air.切割环境:切割发生在空气中。

Cooling: Pellets instantly enveloped by high-speed water flow for rapid cooling (slightly slower quenching than underwater pelletizing).冷却:球团瞬间被高速水流包裹,快速冷却(淬火速度比水下球团稍慢)。

Pellet Morphology: Generally spherical pellets, potentially less regular than underwater pellets; may exhibit slight tails. Good dimensional uniformity.球团形态:一般为球形球团,可能不如水下球团规则;可能有轻微的尾巴。尺寸均匀性好。

Moisture Content: Lower than underwater pelletizing, but still requires drying.水分含量:低于水下造粒,但仍需要干燥。

Noise & Dust: Higher noise than underwater (cutting in air), but water ring effectively suppresses dust.噪音和灰尘:噪音比水下高(在空气中切割),但水环有效地抑制灰尘。

Applicability: 适用性: Suitable for most commodity plastics (e.g., PE, PP, PS, ABS) and some engineering plastics. Particularly suited for materials needing good pellet shape, relatively low moisture, and moderate heat sensitivity. Easier knife maintenance (cutting in air) compared to underwater pelletizing.适用于大多数商品塑料(如PE, PP, PS, ABS)和部分工程塑料。特别适用于需要良好的颗粒形状,相对较低的水分和适度的热敏性的材料。与水下造粒相比,更容易刀维护(在空气中切割)。
Advantages: 优点: Good pellet quality, rapid cooling, lower moisture content (reduced drying burden), accessible knives for maintenance, dust-free, broad applicability.颗粒质量好,冷却快,含水率低(减少干燥负担),便于刀具维护,无尘,适用性广。
Disadvantages: 缺点:  Higher noise than underwater pelletizing, more complex equipment than water slide pelletizing, still requires drying.比水下造粒噪音高,比水滑造粒设备复杂,仍需烘干。

Water Jet Pelletizing
液压切割造粒

Core Principle & Process:核心原理与流程:

Polymer melt is extruded through a die with a single large hole or few large holes, forming thick strands or ropes.聚合物熔体通过带有单个大孔或几个大孔的模具挤出,形成粗股或绳索。

No rotating knives. 没有旋转刀。

One or multiple high-pressure water jets directly impact the hot extrudate, using hydraulic force and shear to tear and fragment it into irregular chunks or pellets.一个或多个高压水射流直接冲击热挤出物,利用水力和剪切力将其撕裂并破碎成不规则的块状或颗粒状。

Fragmented particles are carried away and cooled by the water flow.破碎的颗粒被水流带走并冷却。

Key Features: 主要特点:

Cutting/Fragmentation Method: Hydraulic impact fragmentation. No mechanical knives.切割/破碎方式:液压冲击破碎。没有机械刀。

Cooling: Particles cooled while being carried away by water. Cooling rate depends on particle size and water velocity.冷却:颗粒在被水带走的同时冷却。冷却速度取决于颗粒大小和水速。

Pellet Morphology: Highly irregular shapes (flakes, chunks, strings). Very wide size distribution, poor uniformity. Often “rat-dropping-like”.

Moisture Content: Irregular, porous particles retain very high moisture; extremely difficult to dry.水分含量:不规则,多孔颗粒保留非常高的水分;极难干燥的

Noise & Dust: Noise mainly from high-pressure pumps.噪音和灰尘:噪音主要来自高压泵。

Applicability: 适用性:

Primarily for applications with minimal pellet shape requirements, e.g.:主要用于颗粒形状要求最小的应用,例如:

Recyclate pelletizing (especially contaminated/dirty materials hard to cut cleanly).回收球团(特别是污染/脏的材料难以切割干净)。

Highly-filled compounds (e.g., masterbatches with high CaCO₃).高度填充的化合物(例如,含有高CaCO₃的母粒)。

Specific, extremely viscous materials difficult to cut with knives (e.g., some sealant bases).难以用刀具切割的特殊粘性材料(如某些密封胶基)。

Processes where pellet shape is irrelevant for downstream processing (e.g., certain compounding).颗粒形状与下游加工无关的工艺(例如,某些复合)。

Advantages: 优点: Extremely simple equipment (no knife system), low cost, easy maintenance, capable of processing highly viscous or contaminated materials.极为简单的设备(无刀系统),成本低,易于维护,能够处理高粘性或受污染的材料。
Disadvantages: 缺点: Poor pellet quality (irregular shape, inconsistent size), very high moisture content and difficult drying, generally unsuitable for direct use in high-end injection molding or extrusion. Limited application scope.颗粒质量差(形状不规则,大小不一致),含水率很高,干燥困难,一般不适合直接用于高端注塑或挤出。适用范围有限。

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