It sounds like something straight from the pages of a science-fiction novel – a machine that turns household waste into powder. But the unimaginable is now imaginable, according to Vortair Chief Executive Officer Jeff Lang.
Vortair Pty Ltd is an Australian company that offers autogenous grinding systems to process waste materials with unmatched efficiency. It’s developed the Vortair system to mill waste materials into a fine powder.
The technology is applicable across multiple industries, milling materials such as plastic, glass and cardboard, thus reducing the volume of waste, minimising disposal costs and in many cases turning the waste into a saleable commodity.
It’s also showing promise converting farm waste, including plant biomass and damaged fruit, vegetables and produce, into a viable commercial commodity in the form of powders, pastes and purees.
Image: Vortair Pty Ltd
“We’re looking at how we can redefine waste reduction protocols,” Jeff says. “Australia is running out of landfills; we have to think forward, and we have to minimise waste. We’ve got an answer.
“By turning waste into a powder form the Vortair system can reduce the volume of material going to landfill by up to 90 per cent, with the added benefits of minimising carbon footprint and waste reduction resources.
“We envisage this technology in every household in the future where all waste will be reduced to a powder and picked up by a waste contractor.”
The inventor of the Vortair technology, Axel Andre, has partnered with Jeff and Tom Debney, Business Development Manager, to commercialise the patented technology at a global scale.
The Vortair system combines several pulverising principles that release stored kinetic energy in the material being milled to reduce particle size without crushing or mechanically shearing the product. Thus, it needs no regular blade replacement or sharpening.
It can replace ball mills, pin mills, jet mills, hammer mills, rotating disc mills, and others, significantly reducing industrial grinding costs.
Jeff is an experienced CEO and board director with more than 35 years of industrial commercialisation of new research, patent intellectual property (IP), advanced materials, digital systems, and advanced manufacturing technologies across multiple industry sectors.
He has received international awards, raised more than $200 million in capital for various companies and has led multiple efforts in the development of future advanced technologies, by driving a culture of “outside the box” strategic thinking.
He describes the Vortair technology as the “next level approach” to waste.
One of the key elements in the use of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastics is the ability to recycle it into new product.
Jeff says the Vortair system can mill plastic wrap or bag waste from farms back to a flake or finer powder that has potential to be reused in the manufacture of LDPE and HDPE products, such as wraps, or used in blow moulded product.
The machine is capable of milling poly lined paper bags to separate the poly liner and paper. The paper can be separated and used in cardboard manufacture and the poly, which is mainly LDPE, can be used in new extrusions for timber wrap or consumer fertiliser bags, mulch bags etc.
The Vortair machine uses a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) display control system to change the milling speeds for different applications, depending on the desired particle size required for the finished product.
The food grade Vortair 500 uses food grade stainless-steel 316 with a single piece titanium rotor for milling food grade materials, while the standard Vortair 500 is made from high tensile steel with tungsten carbide blades for increased wear resistance for milling hard and tough materials. The Vortair 500 has successfully milled polyethylene plastic waste to a 100 micron powder.
The Vortair has shown its best results come from introducing materials that are 60 per cent moisture or lower as these will mill efficiently to a powder at under two per cent final moisture and a controlled micron size.
Jeff says it’s important that the size of material introduced to the machine can fit in the chamber. If some size reduction is needed at infeed, this is readily available off the shelf.
One of the limiting factors of the process is the moisture content of the materials as powder is not produced in a single pass until the moisture content is below 55 per cent. This can be reached by reducing the input size and using a heat pump and desiccation technology to gain initial drying at a low cost.
Milling material that is frozen is not economical as the energy used to get back above zero is higher compared to other methods.
The machines are proudly manufactured in Australia and are assembled in Bayswater with fabrication taking place in Shepparton, Melbourne, and Dandenong.
Titanium rotors are used in the food grade machines and are balanced to be able to spin safely at 9000 rpm. Rotor drive balancing is done in Melbourne and the control systems designed and installed in Bayswater with interfaces to most manufacturing systems as needed.
“We’re looking at some phenomenal technology that will take us into the future,” Jeff says. “This is not only going to help waste reduction volumes, but is profound separation technology for across industries.”
For more information, email: jeff@agentel.com.au