Messer Group
Cold grinding, recycling and flash freezing with cryogenics
With this company’s cold-grinding and flash-freezing techniques, it is possible for a wide range of different materials to be finely ground or recycled by using cryogenic gases, such as N2 or CO2. Materials such as thermoplastics, elastomers, waxes and paint additives can be handled, as well as spices, which would otherwise lose their flavors due to the high temperatures in grinding processes. Furthermore, bulk solids and pourable food products can be flash-frozen in paddle screws using cryogenic gases to extend their shelf life or improve their quality. This application is said to be less expensive and more efficient than conventional techniques. During the cryogenic grinding process (photo), the materials to be ground are cooled with liquid N2 or CO2 to make them brittle resulting in a particularly fine grain. This allows composite materials to be separated into their individual components in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner. Hall 4A, Stand 531. — Messer Group GmbH, Bad Soden/Frankfurt am Main, Germany