NRT launches optical sorting platform

Nashville, Tennessee-based National Recovery Technologies (NRT) has announced a next-generation platform for the company’s SpydIR® and ColorPlus™ optical sorters, which will debut during the IFAT 2016 and WasteExpo 2016 tradeshows. The new platform incorporates NRT’s proprietary In-Flight Sorting® technology and continuous auto-calibration, and introduces numerous new features, including performance-enhancing design and internalized controls, according to the company.

The IFAT 2016 exposition is scheduled for May 30 to June 3 in Munich and WasteExpo 2016 will be June 6-9 in Las Vegas.

NRT says the new design of its optical sorters is a culmination of customer feedback and years of research and development aimed at improving the company’s already industry-leading recovery rates.

“For our customers, a couple of percentage points in recovery can significantly impact their bottom line,” says NRT President Matthias Erdmannsdoerfer. “Through mapping the trajectory of ejected commodities with high-speed cameras, we found that a small percentage were bouncing back and not being recovered. The new units offer a sleek, modern design, but more importantly the new shape provides advanced trajectory control that virtually eliminates ‘bounce backs’ of any ejected objects.”

The platform’s shape creates an even more controlled ejection pattern and laminar air flow, the company says. This improvement will significantly improve the recovery of fiber and film. “It’s a huge advancement,” says Erdmannsdoerfer.

The new design is delivered with an entirely self-contained electrical system and a completely new software package, featuring an intuitive human machine interface (HMI) and powerful analytics delivered by NRT Connect™, the company says.

“The new generation is smarter and makes the Internet of Things a reality for optical sorting,” Erdmannsdoerfer continues. “We are well past the traditional remote log-in for technicians—these machines are proactive, constantly monitoring activity and instantaneously sending reports and messages, such as performance metrics and the life expectancy of wear parts. In the case of a fault, the NRT Service Team is notified immediately.”

NRT says the plug-and-play design allows for a faster installation, commissioning and startup, and delivery of a proven solution. “We’re not simply a supplier of detection and ejection components. We manage the entire process, and this new generation is another step in our heritage as a provider of high-performance sorting systems,” says Erdmannsdoerfer. “Everything is designed to work together, from detection and ejection to flight trajectory. The air and cooling system, an accessible and upgraded ejection block, and larger clear side panels and other improved access points are all designed to deliver recovery, purity and maintenance benefits to the customer. We’re extremely excited to bring these game-changing optical sorters to market.”

To view the equipment in action, click here.

NRT is a global leader in the design, manufacture and installation of optical sorting solutions. The company is a member of the Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) Family of Cos., a worldwide leading provider of automated sorting systems to the waste processing and recycling industries. In Europe, NRT operations are headquartered in Amsterdam. Since its inception in 1981, NRT has been recognized as an industry thought-leader and innovator, and currently holds more than 35 U.S. and international patents. Today, NRT says it remains focused on technology innovation and offers industry-leading bottle sorting recovery and purity rates, thanks in part to In-Flight Sorting® and PET Boost® technologies.