Hello! I would like to invite everyone to use this discussion page as much as possible as a platform for discussing the Kingston Hot Press and the Waste for Life project.
Yesterday I met with Dr. Matovic at Queen's University. He showed me the prototype Kingston Hot Press and we discussed design challenges. Initially I planned to assist the group with heat transfer issues that were causing non-uniform heating of the forms, however Dr. Matovic has since resolved this problem. A new challenge which has made itself apparent is acheiving relatively productive throughput. At the moment, plastic bags are layered with paper in thin-films. These films are produced on the hot press individually and then shredded. Once a sufficient volume of plastic/paper composite feed is produced, this is then formed into a 24" by 24" by ~1/2" plate in the hotpress. This is very labour intensive, and therefore a separate mechanism for the production of a feed composite would be very desirable.
I am therefore currently investigating the feasibility of designing an extruder to produce feedstock for the hotpress, possibly using a modified meat grinder. First step will be a literature review. I hope to have lots more to show soon! Nate Preston 15:00, 31 March 2010 (UTC)