Nordson's system, which includes a drum filter and water tank, centrifugal pellet dryer, and plate-style heat exchanger can reportedly cut overall pelletizer energy consumption by up to 17%/
It eliminates the need for a separate fines-removal sieve, which in standard systems requires a secondary, dedicated water pump. Instead, all filtration is provided by a Polygon drum filter, whose 70 micron screens are finer than the 150 micron screens used in standard systems. Driven by a small motor, the drum rotates within the water that is circulated throughout the pelletizing system by the main process water pump. The filtration system is designed so that dirt and fines stay confined inside the drum until they are evacuated into a collecting basin outside the tank.
By eliminating the secondary pump, the Optigon uses only 1,440 KW per year (measured at 8,000 hours), as against 44,000 kW and 98,480 kW for the company’s Opti-Line and Poly-Line systems, respectively.