A customized project for a French company

24 October 2024

Boilers are one of the most commonly used appliances in residential homes for heating water. It represents one of the traditional methods of domestic hot water production and is generally chosen because of its ease of installation and maintenance.

These appliances can reach considerable sizes, up to 500 liters, and require specific recycling treatment due to the presence of gasses contained in the polyurethane foam insulation. These gasses, if dispersed into the atmosphere during shredding, can be harmful to the environment.

Precisely for this reason, designing a boiler recycling line requires scrupulous attention to each treatment step.
FOR REC, thanks to its experience in polyurethane treatment due to its many plants for refrigerators, designed an innovative industrial boiler treatment plant for a French customer.

The customer's request: an ultra-efficient plant for recycling electric water heaters

The customer, the company DECONS located in central western France, asked FOR REC to design and realize a plant for the treatment of water heaters.

For this request, FOR REC started from its line for the industrial recycling of refrigerators, modifying the second phase of the plant.
Indeed, due to the greater amount of steel in the boilers, it was necessary to insert more powerful machinery, capable of handling the thickness of this equipment.

FOR REC decided to upgrade its TB2000 two-shaft shredder and the TQ1800 four-shaft shredder to handle the high shredding torque.
The new plant designed by FOR REC was sized to process 5.5 tonnes of boilers per hour, operating 24/7.

The boiler recycling line:

As with the other plants, the treatment process involves successive disposal steps:

Pyramid shredding by means of two shredders in succession working to obtain a precise size up to 30mm ready for subsequent separations;
Separation of output materials with recovery of ferrous and non-ferrous metals through a sequence of magnet systems;
Grinding of remaining material and reduction of processed material to 5mm with technologies that separate plastic, copper and aluminum by exploiting the different specific weights of the materials;
Separation of polyurethane foam from magnetic, a-magnetic steel and plastics. This avoids harmful gas dispersion into the environment;
Pressing the polyurethane into pellets to remove the last residual gasses. The gasses are treated by means of a carbon adsorption system and nitrogen cryocondensation, which brings the gas to a liquid state for subsequent treatment.

Collaboration and customisation: the key to success

As always, FOR REC developed this project in close collaboration with the customer, producing a tailor-made system that perfectly meets the specific needs of the sector. The first plant installed in France is currently in the start-up phase, while two others are being built.

Thanks to its advanced technology and ability to adapt existing solutions to new applications, FOR REC continues to consolidate its position in the recycling sector, offering efficient and sustainable plants that meet customers' specific needs.
This recycling line is a concrete example of how FOR REC combines innovation, flexibility and efficiency for a more sustainable future.