A recycling plant operator looks at a pelletizing extruder rated at 500 kg/h and expects 500 kg/h. What he gets is 150 kg/h — and he blames the extruder. The extruder is not the problem. The problem is feeding it.
Post-consumer PE film — after shredding, washing, and drying — has a bulk density of 50-80 kg/m³. A handful of washed film flakes weighs about the same as a handful of feathers. When this material enters the hopper of a single-screw pelletizing extruder, it bridges. It rat-holes. The screw flights — designed to convey melted polymer, not aerated fluff — spin in a pocket of air and the occasional clump of film. The extruder's volumetric capacity is there, but the material's bulk density starves the screw before the melt zone ever starts.
The arithmetic is brutal: a screw with 100 mm diameter and 150 RPM processes approximately 0.15 m³ per revolution in the feed zone. At 50 kg/m³ bulk density, that is 7.5 kg per revolution — 1,125 kg/h volumetric capacity. At 400 kg/m³ bulk density (dense agglomerates), the same screw processes 60 kg per revolution — 9,000 kg/h volumetric capacity. The screw that was starving at 150 kg/h now has ample capacity to deliver 500 kg/h. The extruder was never the bottleneck — the feed was.
This is where the agglomerator earns its place. It is not an extruder, not a pelletizer, not a dryer. It is a densifier — a machine with one job: take the fluff and turn it into lumps dense enough for the extruder screw to grip, convey, and melt. The CX-AG Series does this with nothing but friction — no external heaters, no additives, no binders. High-speed blades spin the film flakes against fixed blades and the chamber wall, generating frictional heat that brings the polymer to its softening point. The flakes shrink, curl, and agglomerate into dense, irregular lumps. A water spray quenches them before they can melt and fuse into a solid block. The result: agglomerates at 350-450 kg/m³, ready to pour into the extruder hopper and feed at the extruder's true rated capacity.
The CX-AG Series agglomerator has no heating elements — no resistance bands, no oil jackets, no induction coils. All the heat comes from one source: the kinetic energy of rotating blades converted to thermal energy by friction.
Inside the vertical cylindrical chamber, 2-4 rotary blades mounted on a vertical shaft spin at 700-900 RPM. The washed, dried film flakes — typically 10-30 mm in size after passing through a plastic crusher — are loaded into the chamber. As the blades spin, three simultaneous friction mechanisms heat the material:
Blade-to-material friction: The rotating blades slice through the flake mass at high speed, generating shear heat at every blade-material contact point. This is the dominant heat source — the blades are doing mechanical work on the polymer, and that work becomes heat.
Material-to-material friction: Flakes rub against each other as the turbulent vortex inside the chamber continually reorients them. Inter-particle friction supplements the blade friction.
Material-to-wall friction: Centrifugal force throws flakes against the chamber wall, where they slide and rub. The wall temperature rises in parallel with the material temperature.
The total heat input is proportional to the motor's mechanical power and the residence time. A CX-AG600 with a 110 kW motor, running a batch for 8-12 minutes (depending on material type, moisture, and target agglomerate size), converts approximately 12-18 kWh of electrical energy into the thermal energy required to soften 100-150 kg of PE flakes from ambient (20°C) to softening point (110-130°C for LDPE, 140-160°C for PP).
The polymer does not melt — that is the key distinction between an agglomerator and an extruder. The agglomerator heats the flakes to their softening point (Vicat softening temperature), not their melting point. At the softening point, the polymer becomes pliable — it can shrink, curl, and deform under mechanical stress — but it does not flow as a melt.
As the batch progresses:
Minutes 1-3: Cold flakes tumble. Motor current is high as the blades work against the loose, high-volume material. Temperature rises from ambient to 50-60°C. Residual surface moisture flashes off as steam.
Minutes 3-6: Flakes begin to shrink — LDPE film flakes, stretched during film blowing, relax back toward their pre-orientation dimensions. PP flakes, less elongated, begin to soften at their edges. The material volume in the chamber visibly decreases as individual flakes contract. Temperature reaches 80-100°C.
Minutes 6-10: Flakes transition to agglomerates. Individual flakes, now softened and tacky at their surfaces, contact each other in the turbulent blade vortex. Surface-to-surface adhesion ("tack") binds flakes into irregular lumps — typically 5-20 mm in diameter, depending on material and residence time. The blade torque signature changes: the motor load becomes more uniform as the material transitions from a fluffy, discontinuous mass to a denser, more cohesive bulk. Temperature reaches the material's softening point (110-160°C depending on polymer).
Temperature triggers quench: A thermocouple in the chamber wall monitors material temperature. When the preset temperature is reached — ideally 5-10°C above the material's Vicat softening temperature — the PLC triggers the automatic water spray system. A burst of cold water (typically 2-5 liters depending on chamber size) is sprayed directly into the agglomerate mass through nozzles in the chamber lid.
Water quench (10-20 seconds): The water flash-evaporates on contact with the hot agglomerates, absorbing the latent heat of vaporization and rapidly cooling the polymer surface below its softening point. The agglomerates harden instantly. The steam generated vents through the lid. The quench prevents the agglomerates from continuing to heat and fuse into a solid mass that would require mechanical breaking to remove — a "melt block" event that costs hours of downtime.
Discharge: A pneumatically-actuated gate at the chamber bottom opens. The agglomerates — now cool, hard, irregular lumps at 350-450 kg/m³ bulk density — discharge by gravity into a collection bin or directly onto a conveyor feeding the pelletizing extruder. The batch cycle is complete. Total cycle time: 8-15 minutes depending on material and model.
In a typical PE film recycling line, the agglomerator sits between the washing line's centrifuge/dryer output and the pelletizing extruder's feed hopper:
Shredded post-consumer film → washing line (friction washer + sink-float tank + centrifuge dryer) → dried flakes (50-80 kg/m³) → CX-AG Agglomerator (densification to 350-450 kg/m³) → feeding hopper → single-screw pelletizing extruder → die-face water-ring pelletizer or strand pelletizer → finished recycled pellets.
The agglomerator's function is singular and measurable: increase the bulk density of the feed by a factor of 5-8×, enabling the downstream extruder to operate at its design throughput rather than at 20-30% of design throughput.
Four models cover throughput from 150 to 550 kg/h, pairing one-to-one with single-screw pelletizing extruders of matching capacity.
| Model | Chamber Vol. (L) | Effective Vol. (L) | Rotary Blades | Fixed Blades | Blade Speed (r/min) | Motor (kW) | Output (kg/h) | Dimensions (mm) | Weight (T) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CX-AG300 | 300 | 200 | 2 | 6 | 900 | 55 | 150 | 2000×900×1600 | 1.8 |
| CX-AG500 | 500 | 400 | 4 | 8 | 850 | 90 | 300 | 2300×1000×1700 | 2.1 |
| CX-AG600 | 600 | 500 | 4 | 8 | 850 | 110 | 400 | 2300×1100×1800 | 2.3 |
| CX-AG800 | 800 | 700 | 4 | 8 | 700 | 132 | 550 | 2500×1250×1900 | 2.8 |
Blade material: Wear-resistant alloy steel, heat-treated to HRC 58-62. Rotary blades and fixed blades are profiled for optimal shear and material circulation. All blades are bolted (not welded) for removal, regrinding, and replacement.
Shaft support: Double-bearing design — heavy-duty roller bearings at both the top and bottom of the vertical main shaft. The lower bearing absorbs the axial load from the material weight and blade thrust. The upper bearing stabilizes the shaft against radial deflection from unbalanced material distribution. Bearing housing is integrated into a reinforced steel frame, not bolted to the chamber bottom — the frame absorbs vibration and extends bearing life.
Motor & drive: Direct-drive via flexible coupling (no belt, no gearbox). TEFC (totally enclosed fan-cooled) industrial motor, IP55 rated for dusty recycling plant environments. Motor power: 55-132 kW across the series.
Control system: PLC with HMI touchscreen. Monitors: motor current, chamber temperature, cycle time, water spray duration. Controls: motor start/stop, discharge gate open/close, water spray solenoid valve, emergency stop. Pre-set temperature triggers automatic spray — no operator judgment required, batch-to-batch consistency is automated.
| Your Pelletizing Extruder Throughput | Recommended Agglomerator | Batch Size (approx.) | Pairs With |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100-200 kg/h | CX-AG300 (150 kg/h) | 30-50 kg | Small recycling line, pilot plant |
| 200-400 kg/h | CX-AG500 (300 kg/h) | 60-80 kg | Mid-scale LDPE film recycling |
| 300-500 kg/h | CX-AG600 (400 kg/h) | 80-100 kg | Mid-to-large PE/PP film recycling |
| 400-600 kg/h | CX-AG800 (550 kg/h) | 120-150 kg | Large-scale continuous recycling operation |
Selection principle: The agglomerator throughput should be 10-20% above the pelletizing extruder's target throughput. This provides surge capacity — the agglomerator runs fewer batches per hour than its maximum, giving the extruder a buffer of pre-densified material and allowing the agglomerator operator to manage loading/unloading without becoming the line's pacing constraint.
Feature: The CX-AG generates all process heat through friction — rotating blades against material, material against material, material against chamber wall. There are no resistance heater bands, no oil jackets, no induction coils anywhere on the machine. The motor's electrical energy is the sole heat source.
Advantage: Heated densifiers (hot-air agglomerators, heated-roll compactors, or extruder-based densifiers) consume additional energy for the heating elements — typically 20-40% of the total energy input goes to heaters, not to the mechanical densification itself. In a friction agglomerator, every kilowatt-hour the motor draws goes into the material — either as heat (softening the polymer) or as mechanical work (the blades circulating and compacting the material). There is no heating element to burn out, no heating circuit to maintain, no heating contactor to replace.
Benefit: Energy consumption is 30-40% lower than electrically-heated densifiers of equivalent throughput. For a CX-AG600 running two shifts daily at 300 kg/h average throughput, processing 1,200 tons annually, the energy savings are approximately 60,000-100,000 kWh per year — $6,000-15,000 at typical industrial rates. For recycling plants in regions with high electricity costs (Europe, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa), this operating cost advantage compounds over the machine's 10-15 year service life into savings that exceed the agglomerator's purchase price.
Feature: The vertical main shaft is supported by heavy-duty roller bearings at both the top and bottom of the shaft — not a single bearing at the motor end with the blades cantilevered. The lower bearing housing is integrated into a reinforced steel frame that absorbs vibration and isolates the bearing from the chamber's thermal expansion.
Advantage: In a single-bearing agglomerator, the bearing sits at the motor end, and the blade hub hangs from the shaft like a cantilever. When material distributes unevenly in the chamber — which it does, constantly, as batches load and agglomerate — the unbalanced radial load applies a bending moment to the shaft. The bearing sees this as a cyclic radial load that, over months of operation, fatigues the bearing race, spalls the rolling elements, and eventually seizes the bearing. When the bearing seizes, the shaft stops. Often, in a single-bearing machine, the shaft bends or snaps at the bearing shoulder when the rotor's inertia meets the seized bearing. This is a catastrophic failure — weeks of downtime, expensive shaft replacement, lost production. The CX-AG's double-bearing design gives the shaft two support points 600-900mm apart (depending on model), reducing the bending moment on each bearing by 80-90%. The shaft runs true even with uneven loading. The lower bearing takes the axial load of the material mass. The upper bearing takes the radial load of the shaft deflection. Each bearing does one job well instead of both jobs poorly.
Benefit: Bearing service life of 5+ years in continuous two-shift operation. Zero shaft failures attributable to bearing seizure in the field — the double-bearing frame absorbs the unbalanced loads that kill single-bearing machines. For the recycling plant operator, this means: the agglomerator is running, not waiting for a replacement shaft from the factory.
Feature: A thermocouple embedded in the chamber wall continuously monitors material temperature. When the temperature reaches the operator-set threshold — typically 5-10°C above the polymer's Vicat softening point — the PLC opens a solenoid valve, spraying a metered volume of cold water into the agglomerate mass through stainless steel nozzles in the chamber lid. The quench duration and water volume are preset and adjustable per material recipe.
Advantage: Manual quench — where the operator judges agglomeration progress by sound, sight, or elapsed time and manually activates the water spray — produces variable results. A spray 30 seconds early means under-agglomerated flakes that will feed poorly into the extruder. A spray 30 seconds late means over-melted agglomerates that have fused into a solid block requiring mechanical extraction — a "melt block" event that costs 1-3 hours of downtime. The CX-AG's automated temperature-triggered quench eliminates the operator's judgment from the critical process decision. The thermocouple measures the actual material temperature — not an estimated temperature, not a timer — and the PLC actuates the spray at exactly the same material condition every batch.
Benefit: Batch-to-batch agglomerate consistency — same density, same particle size distribution, same feed behavior into the downstream extruder. The extruder operator sees stable motor current shift after shift because the feed is uniform. No melt blocks. No under-processed batches returned for re-agglomeration. The labor saving alone — not needing an experienced operator to "listen to the machine" — justifies the PLC upgrade for plants with variable labor quality.
Feature: Rotary and fixed blades are machined from wear-resistant alloy steel, through-hardened to HRC 58-62. The blade profile is designed with a 3-5 mm grinding allowance — the blades can be removed, surface-ground to restore the cutting edge, and reinstalled 3-4 times before the blade dimension falls below the minimum service limit.
Advantage: Blades in an agglomerator are wear items — they contact thousands of tons of abrasive film flakes (even "clean" washed film carries microscopic soil particles that abrade steel) over their service life. Non-regrindable blades — with a hardened surface layer over a soft core, or with no grinding allowance in the profile — must be replaced when the cutting edge rounds. At 600-2,000/year to the operating cost. Regrindable blades extend that replacement interval to 3-4 years. The grinding itself costs $50-100 per set at a local machine shop — a fraction of replacement cost.
Benefit: A CX-AG600 with 4 rotary + 8 fixed blades, running 4,000 hours annually on washed PE film, regrinds blades once per year and replaces them in year 4. Total blade cost over 4 years: approximately 3,200 (four sets of non-regrindable blades). Annual savings: $600. The bigger benefit is availability — regrinding takes 2-3 days (remove, send to grinder, reinstall) vs. 1-2 weeks for replacement blades to ship from the manufacturer.
Feature: Four chamber sizes from 300L to 800L (effective volume 200-700L) cover throughput from 150 to 550 kg/h. The model step — CX-AG300 → CX-AG500 → CX-AG600 → CX-AG800 — provides approximately 1.5× throughput increments between sizes, matching the throughput increments of single-screw pelletizing extruders.
Advantage: In a recycling line, the agglomerator and the pelletizing extruder are a mated pair — the agglomerator's throughput should equal or slightly exceed the extruder's throughput. An undersized agglomerator starves the extruder and becomes the line's pacing constraint (exactly the bottleneck the agglomerator was purchased to eliminate). An oversized agglomerator wastes capital, floor space, and energy — a CX-AG800 running half-full batches at half its designed throughput uses nearly the same motor power per batch as when full, meaning the energy cost per kilogram of output is higher. The four-model range allows precise sizing: match your extruder's target throughput to the nearest CX-AG model's rated output, and you get a balanced line.
Benefit: A recycling line with a 350 kg/h single-screw extruder paired with a CX-AG600 (400 kg/h) runs the agglomerator at 85% utilization — comfortable headroom, stable operation, no starvation. Capital cost is optimized — the CX-AG600 is not oversized for the application, and its 110 kW motor is appropriately sized for the throughput rather than running a larger machine at part load.
Feature: The CX-AG transforms washed film flakes at 50-80 kg/m³ bulk density into dense agglomerates at 350-450 kg/m³ — a 5-8× densification ratio without melting or extruding the polymer.
Advantage: The pelletizing extruder is the recycling line's most expensive single component. When it runs at 30% of rated throughput because the feed material is too light to fill the screw flights, the capital investment is severely underutilized — the extruder's depreciation, floor space, and utility connections cost the same whether it produces 150 kg/h or 500 kg/h. By densifying the feed upstream, the CX-AG enables the extruder to operate at 80-100% of rated throughput — multiplying effective output by 3-5× with no change to the extruder itself. This is not a marginal improvement. It is the difference between a recycling line that loses money on overhead and a recycling line that covers its fixed costs and generates margin.
Benefit: A recycling plant with a 500 kg/h rated extruder producing 150 kg/h from loose film flakes installs a CX-AG600 upstream. The extruder output rises to 400-450 kg/h — a 2.7-3× throughput increase, representing an additional 1,000-1,200 tons of annual production on a two-shift operation. At a pellet selling price of 600,000-1,080,000/year — against an agglomerator capital cost of $15,000-30,000. The payback is measured in weeks, not years.
The agglomerator is not a standalone machine. Its value is realized only when it is correctly positioned in the recycling line — between the washing/drying stage and the pelletizing stage — and correctly sized to feed the downstream extruder.
[Post-Consumer Film Bales] │ ▼ [Shredder / Plastic Crusher] ──── size reduction to 20-40 mm flakes │ ▼ [Friction Washer + Sink-Float Tank] ──── soil removal, PP/PE separation by density │ ▼ [Centrifuge Dryer] ──── mechanical drying to <5% surface moisture │ ▼ (flakes at 50-80 kg/m³ — too light for efficient extruder feeding) │ ┌────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CX-AG Agglomerator (THIS MACHINE) │ │ Densification: 50-80 → 350-450 kg/m³ │ │ Batch cycle: 8-15 min │ │ Output: dense irregular agglomerates │ └────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘ │ (agglomerates at 350-450 kg/m³ — optimal extruder feed) ▼ [Feeding Hopper / Screw Feeder] ──── metered continuous feed │ ▼ [Single-Screw Pelletizing Extruder] ──── melting, filtration, pelletizing │ ▼ [Pelletizing System] ──── water-ring, strand, or underwater pelletizing │ ▼ [Finished Recycled PE Pellets] ──── to bagging or silo
The CX-AG receives material from the washing line's centrifuge dryer. Three conditions must be met for efficient agglomeration:
Moisture content <5%: Excess water in the flakes extends cycle time (energy goes to evaporating water rather than heating polymer) and reduces throughput. The centrifuge dryer must deliver adequately dry flakes. For washed film with >8% moisture, a post-centrifuge STG-U hopper drier or a hot-air belt dryer upstream of the agglomerator is recommended.
Flake size 10-30 mm: Oversized flakes (>40 mm) bridge in the agglomerator feed hopper and tangle around the rotary blades, increasing motor load and extending cycle time. Undersized flakes (<5 mm, typically from over-shredding) have high surface-area-to-volume ratio and heat rapidly but agglomerate into small, dusty clusters rather than clean lumps. Proper plastic crusher screen size selection (12-16 mm screen) upstream produces optimally-sized flakes for agglomeration.
Metal-free feed: Post-consumer film inevitably contains tramp metal — staples, wire, aluminum can fragments. A CJ magnetic frame or magnetic separator at the agglomerator feed hopper captures ferrous metal before it reaches the blades. Non-ferrous metal (aluminum) requires an eddy-current separator in the washing line — one piece of aluminum passing through the agglomerator is benign; accumulated aluminum over thousands of batches abrades blades and scores the chamber wall.
The CX-AG discharges agglomerates — by gravity through a bottom gate — into a collection bin, a conveyor, or directly into the extruder's feed hopper. For continuous extrusion lines, the preferred interface is:
Agglomerator → buffer silo (1-2 batch capacity) → screw feeder → pelletizing extruder. The buffer silo decouples the agglomerator's batch operation from the extruder's continuous operation — the agglomerator can run batches on its own cycle, and the screw feeder meters agglomerates into the extruder at a constant, controlled rate. The extruder never sees the batch cycle.
Direct feed (agglomerator discharges directly into extruder hopper): Simpler, lower cost, but the extruder's feed rate varies with the agglomerator's batch cycle — high during discharge, zero during the agglomeration phase. Suitable for lines where the extruder hopper has sufficient buffer capacity (2-3 batch equivalents) and the extruder operator monitors hopper level.
The CX-AG occupies the pre-treatment / densification position in Chenxing's recycling equipment lineup. It feeds into all downstream pelletizing systems:
For PE/PP film recycling, the CX-AG feeds a single-screw extruder with water ring pelletizing or side force feeder pelletizing line.
For premium applications requiring spherical pellets from recycled material, CX-AG agglomerates can feed an underwater pelletizing system.
For PVC/WPC recycling, a PVC hot-cutting pelletizing line handles the agglomerated feed.
For compounding applications where recycled agglomerates are blended with virgin resin and additives, a parallel co-rotating twin screw extruder provides the mixing capability.
The agglomerator is the upstream enabler — it does not make pellets, but it ensures the machine that makes pellets can do its job at full capacity.
Softening point: 85-110°C (LDPE/LLDPE), 120-130°C (HDPE)
Agglomeration temperature setting: 115-125°C (LDPE), 130-145°C (HDPE)
Blade speed: 850-900 RPM (higher speed for faster heat-up with thin films)
Cycle time: 8-12 minutes per batch
Agglomerate size: 10-25 mm irregular lumps
Key considerations: LDPE film — the most recycled polymer globally — agglomerates reliably and cleanly. Stretch film (LLDPE) requires slightly higher temperature (120-135°C) due to its higher softening point and greater toughness. Printed film (ink on surface) produces slightly darker agglomerates — the ink does not volatilize at agglomeration temperatures but may partially transfer to the chamber wall, requiring periodic wall scraping. HDPE film (grocery bags, T-shirt bags) agglomerates at higher temperature and produces harder, denser lumps that feed excellently into the extruder.
Softening point: 140-155°C
Agglomeration temperature setting: 150-165°C
Blade speed: 700-850 RPM (moderate speed — PP woven tapes are tough and can overload the motor at high speed)
Cycle time: 10-15 minutes per batch
Agglomerate size: 8-20 mm lumps — slightly smaller and harder than PE agglomerates
Key considerations: PP is the most challenging common agglomerator feedstock because of its higher softening point and its tendency to transition rapidly from "soft" to "melt" — the window between optimum agglomeration and melt-block is narrower for PP (10-15°C) than for LDPE (20-30°C). The auto water quench feature is particularly valuable for PP — the PLC triggers spray at exactly the right temperature, every batch. PP woven bags must be adequately shredded (20-30 mm flakes) before agglomeration — long strands of woven tape will wrap around the shaft and blades, stalling the motor.
Softening point: 70-80°C (amorphous PET — this is the glass transition, not melting point)
Agglomeration temperature setting: 90-110°C
Blade speed: 500-700 RPM (low speed — PET crystallizes and hardens rapidly with excess heat)
Cycle time: 6-10 minutes per batch
Agglomerate size: 5-15 mm granules — PET agglomerates are smaller and more granular than PE/PP
Key considerations: PET does not truly agglomerate in the same way as polyolefins — it does not become tacky at its glass transition temperature (Tg ≈ 75°C). Instead, washed PET flakes in an agglomerator undergo a partial crystallization: the frictional heat raises the flakes above Tg, allowing the amorphous regions to crystallize, which shrinks the flakes and slightly fuses them at surface contact points. The result is a densified granular product — not fused lumps, but compacted granules that feed better than loose flakes. PET agglomeration requires lower temperature and shorter cycle time than PE/PP, and the end product is more suited to PET disc pulverizer feeding than direct extrusion.
Softening point: 140-155°C (PP nonwoven), 70-80°C (PET nonwoven)
Agglomeration temperature setting: 150-165°C (PP), 90-110°C (PET)
Blade speed: 600-800 RPM
Cycle time: 10-15 minutes
Agglomerate size: 5-15 mm — nonwovens produce smaller, denser agglomerates than film
Key considerations: Nonwoven and fiber waste agglomerates well because the individual fibers have high surface-area-to-volume ratio — they heat rapidly and form dense, uniform lumps. However, long fibers (textile waste, carpet fibers) must be pre-shredded to <30 mm to prevent shaft wrapping. Synthetic fiber waste containing cotton or other natural fibers will generate smoke from the natural fiber component at >150°C — PET/cotton blends should be agglomerated at the lower end of the PET range (90-100°C).
Film flakes at 50-80 kg/m³ bulk density cannot fill the extruder screw flights effectively — the screw conveys 80-90% air and 10-20% polymer. This "starvation feeding" limits the extruder to 20-30% of its rated throughput, regardless of screw speed or motor power. The CX-AG agglomerator densifies flakes to 350-450 kg/m³ — a 5-8× density increase — enabling the screw flights to fill completely with polymer and achieve the extruder's full throughput rating. A 500 kg/h extruder that was producing 150 kg/h from loose flakes will typically reach 400-450 kg/h with agglomerated feed. The extruder was never the bottleneck — the feed density was.
Friction agglomeration consumes 30-40% less energy per kilogram of output than electrically-heated densifiers because all energy input goes directly into the material — both as mechanical work (blade rotation) and as frictional heat (which is the mechanical work converted to thermal energy in the polymer). Heated densifiers lose 20-40% of their energy input to heating element inefficiency, insulation losses, and warm-up cycles. For a CX-AG600 processing 300 kg/h, energy consumption is approximately 0.30-0.35 kWh/kg — vs. 0.45-0.55 kWh/kg for a heated densifier. Over 1,200 tons of annual production, the difference is 60,000-100,000 kWh — $6,000-15,000 at typical industrial rates.
Yes — the CX-AG processes mixed PE/PP film, but the operator must set the temperature threshold to the PP softening point (150-165°C) because PP's softening point is higher than PE's. At this temperature, the PE component will be softer and more thoroughly agglomerated than the PP component, but the agglomerates will still be dense, free-flowing lumps. The key operational risk with mixed PE/PP is that the PE — softer at PP's agglomeration temperature — can over-soften and begin to coat the chamber wall. The auto water quench at the PP-temperature trigger mitigates this by stopping the heat input as soon as the PP is agglomerated. For lines consistently processing mixed PE/PP, a vibrating screen after the agglomerator removes any over-sized fused pieces before they enter the extruder hopper.
Blade life depends on the material's abrasiveness. For clean washed LDPE film — the gentlest application — blade edges remain serviceable for 1,500-2,500 hours before the cutting edge rounds and agglomeration efficiency drops (indicated by longer cycle times and higher motor current for the same batch size). For PP woven bag recycling with residual soil — the most abrasive application — blade life is 800-1,200 hours. The operator should regrind blades when cycle time increases by >15% for the same material and batch size, or when the motor current during the early heating phase (minutes 1-4) is consistently above normal — both indicators that the blunt blades are working harder to achieve the same friction heating. Blades can be reground 3-4 times before the blade dimension falls below the minimum service limit marked on the blade body.
If the auto water quench fails to trigger (thermocouple fault, solenoid valve failure, water supply interruption) and the material temperature continues rising past the softening point to the full melting point, the polymer will fuse into a solid block inside the chamber — a "melt block." The CX-AG's PLC monitors motor current as a secondary safety: if current spikes above the normal maximum (indicating the blades are encountering solid, fused material rather than loose agglomerates), the PLC trips the motor and sounds an alarm. The operator must then mechanically extract the melt block — typically 1-3 hours of downtime. To prevent this, the CX-AG includes a water pressure sensor in the spray line — if water pressure is below minimum, the PLC will not start the batch cycle. Redundancy in the quench system (thermocouple + water pressure sensor + motor current trip) makes melt-block events rare — typically fewer than 1-2 per year of continuous operation.
Match the agglomerator throughput to be 10-20% above the extruder's target throughput. For a 400 kg/h extruder, the CX-AG600 at 400 kg/h is the minimum specification (running at 100% rated throughput). The CX-AG800 at 550 kg/h provides comfortable headroom — the agglomerator runs at 73% of its rated throughput, providing surge capacity if the extruder temporarily runs above 400 kg/h and reducing the agglomerator operator's pace. If budget allows, the CX-AG800 is the recommended pairing for a 400 kg/h line. If the 400 kg/h extruder is cost-constrained and will never exceed its rating, the CX-AG600 is adequate. Never pair an agglomerator rated below the extruder's throughput — the agglomerator becomes the bottleneck it was purchased to eliminate.
The CX-AG is designed for film, fiber, and flexible materials — materials that shrink and curl when heated to their softening point. Rigid plastic regrind (crushed injection-molded parts, pipe regrind, bottle regrind) does not agglomerate well because rigid chips do not shrink or curl when heated — they retain their shape until they melt. Agglomerating rigid regrind typically results in a mass of chips partially fused at the edges, with poor bulk density improvement and inconsistent feed behavior. For rigid plastic recycling, the preferred approach is to feed the clean regrind directly into the pelletizing extruder — rigid regrind at 400-600 kg/m³ already has adequate bulk density for extruder feeding without densification. If the rigid regrind contains a mix of chips and film, the CX-AG can process the mixture — the film component will agglomerate and the rigid chips will be incorporated into the agglomerate mass, improving overall feed density.
Step 1 — Audit Your Current Line's True Bottleneck: Measure your pelletizing extruder's actual throughput (kg/h over a full shift, not peak instantaneous rate) with your current feedstock (loose flakes, regrind, etc.). Compare this to the extruder's rated throughput. If actual is below 50% of rated, bulk density of the feed is almost certainly the constraint — and a CX-AG agglomerator upstream of the extruder will recover that lost capacity.
Step 2 — Select the Right CX-AG Model: Match your extruder's rated throughput to the nearest CX-AG model. For a 300 kg/h extruder, select CX-AG500 (300 kg/h). For a 500 kg/h extruder, select CX-AG800 (550 kg/h) for operational headroom. Our engineering team can analyze your specific feedstock (material type, flake size, moisture content, contamination level) and recommend the optimal model and configuration — including pre-agglomerator drying, metal separation, and post-agglomerator buffer storage.
Step 3 — Request a Quote from Nicole: Send your current line throughput, material type, and annual production volume to Nicole. Include photos of your feedstock if available — flake size and contamination level affect cycle time and blade life, which determine the recommended model. We provide a complete proposal with technical specifications, line integration diagram, utility requirements, and pricing within 24 hours.
Step 4 — Install, Integrate, and Watch Your Extruder Reach Its Rated Capacity: Chenxing provides on-site installation supervision, line integration (agglomerator-to-extruder interface — buffer silo, screw feeder, or direct feed), operator training (batch loading procedure, temperature setting per material, blade inspection and regrinding schedule), and a spares kit (blade set, bearings, thermocouple, solenoid valve). After commissioning, the agglomerator runs with one operator loading batches — while the downstream extruder, for the first time, operates at its full rated throughput.
For a complete recycling line, Chenxing supplies the full equipment chain: plastic crushers for primary size reduction; washing lines with friction washers, sink-float tanks, and centrifuge dryers; CX-AG agglomerators for densification; side force feeder pelletizing lines and water ring pelletizing lines for PE/PP film pelletizing; underwater pelletizing systems for premium spherical pellets; PVC hot-cutting pelletizing lines for rigid PVC/WPC recycling; parallel co-rotating twin screw extruders for compounding recycled content with additives; and post-pelletizing equipment — vibrating screens for classification, STG-U hopper driers for moisture removal, CJ magnetic frames for metal protection, and high-speed mixers for additive blending.
Contact Chenxing Machinery Today:
Contact Person: Nicole
Phone / WhatsApp: +8615951187228
Email: ceo@cxsljx.com
Company: Zhangjiagang Chenxing Machinery Co., Ltd.
Website: www.chenxingmachinery.com