Recycling Plant Electric Motors

In a recycling plant, waste passes through dozens of machines between the tipping floor and the bale outlet, and almost every one of them is turned by a three-phase induction motor. Recycling plant motors span a wide band, from a 2 kW drive on a belt conveyor to a main drive of several hundred kilowatts on a shredder. This page sums up which kind of motor works at which point of the line and where the DRG range fits into that picture.

What is described here is the electric motor inside the machines. DRG Motor does not sell machines such as shredders, screens or presses, nor gearboxes, hydraulic pumps or drives (inverters). Our part is the motor itself, chosen for the machine you already own or for the one a builder is designing. The models are listed on the Buy Electric Motors Online page.

Plant flow: which machines does the waste pass through?

Layouts vary with the material, yet most plants follow the same order. The motor does a different job at each step, and the short notes below show which questions to ask when choosing one.

Reception, feeding and conveyors

A bunker and a steel apron feeder take the pile tipped by the truck, then belts carry the material from machine to machine. Here the motor works at the input of a gearbox that gives high torque at low speed, and it often has to start with a loaded belt.

Pre-shredding, crushing and granulating

The pre-shredder tears large, bulky items at low speed; the crusher or granulator then brings the material down to a size that passes the screen holes. Load on these machines comes in shocks, and current jumps within seconds when the cutting chamber jams.

Screening and separation

Trommels, disc screens, ballistic separators, magnetic and eddy current separators and air separator fans split the stream by size, shape, metal type and density. Powers are moderate, but wrapping and clogging keep changing the load seen by the motor.

Washing, drying, extrusion and baling

Plastic lines add washing tanks, friction washers, centrifugal dryers and an extruder, ending with a baling press or a pelletizing unit. Splashing water in the wet section, constant torque on the extruder and stop-start running of the motor that drives the press's hydraulic pump are the points to watch.

Selection criteria shared by all recycling motors

Machines differ, but the same five questions come up for every motor in a recycling line. Buying on kW alone, without answering them, comes back as a tripped overload or a hot winding at the first jam.

Overload and jamming

Waste is never uniform: a piece of iron, a coil of wire or a wet lump of paper lifts the load in an instant. Size the motor for the real peak load of the machine rather than the average, and set the protection to the motor's nameplate current. In our range the breakdown torque is 2.0–2.3 times the rated torque; that margin covers a short shock, not a sustained overload.

Starting under load

After a fault or a power cut, conveyors, feeders and trommels restart full. On 4-pole DRG motors the starting torque is 2.0–2.4 times the rated value. Star-delta starting cuts that torque to roughly a third, so it needs a separate check on a machine that starts loaded; soft starters and inverters are chosen together with the machine builder.

Dust, moisture and surroundings

Crushing and screening areas carry fine dust, the washing area carries splashing water. DRG motors are IP55; the fan cover and cooling fins need regular cleaning so that dust does not build up on them. If plastic or paper dust can create an explosive atmosphere and the hall has been zoned, the motor must carry an Ex certificate, and our standard motors are not supplied with one.

Voltage and mounting

Small units up to and including 3 kW carry a 230/400 V winding; from 4 kW the winding is 400/690 V, which means a delta connection on a 400 V supply. Mounting follows the machine connection: foot-mounted B3 is common on belt and coupling drives, B5 or B35 on gearbox and pump flanges.

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Market power ranges and the DRG range

A) Motor powers seen in manufacturer catalogues

The values below come from manufacturer catalogues and one plant equipment list. Each figure is the motor of one machine; none of them is a plant total:

On conveyors and separators motors mostly run from a few kilowatts to a few tens of kilowatts; on shredders power climbs quickly with model size. For large scrap shredders the catalogues show main motors from 315 kW to 2200 kW, and at those sizes a medium-voltage motor may be used.

B) Where DRG motors fit in

DRG Motor is a manufacturer, supplier and seller of electric motors. Most of the motors in the conveyor, feeder, screen, separator, fan, washing and granulating sections of a recycling line fall inside our range:

Powers above 355 kW, medium voltage (6/10 kV), Ex-certified motors, brake motors, servo and DC motors and motors with an integrated drive are not in our range. We also have no 750 rpm (8-pole) motor; low speeds are obtained through the gearbox.

B5 dimensions for gearbox and pump flanges

Flange motors are common on conveyor gearboxes and hydraulic power units. Connection dimensions of frames 63–160 from the B5 table of the catalogue (mm):

Before ordering, lay the old nameplate and the machine builder's documents next to our data: kW, speed, voltage and connection, frame, mounting type, shaft diameter with key, flange, and how the coupling, pulley or gearbox attaches. We give no firm promise of fit until that check is done. Dimensioned drawings are on the technical drawing page.

Vibrating machines are a separate topic

Vibrating feeders, the feed chute of eddy current separators and some fine screens are driven not by a standard induction motor but by a vibration motor carrying unbalanced weights on its shaft. Those units belong to a separate product group and stay out of the live price table here, so simply tell us what you need. For general information see the vibration motors article.

Motor options and prices for a recycling line

The table below shows 4-pole motors picked from the power steps met most often along the line, from conveyor to shredder. Prices come live from the shop:

DRG MOTOR motors are guaranteed against material and manufacturing defects for 2 years from the delivery date (warranty certificate).

Motors in this power range

• DRG-112M-4 – 4 kW – 1450 rpm – 112M cast iron
• DRG-160M-4 – 11 kW – 1465 rpm – 160M cast iron
• DRG-200L-4 – 30 kW – 1475 rpm – 200L cast iron
• DRG-250M-4 – 55 kW – 1485 rpm – 250M cast iron
• DRG-315M-4 – 132 kW – 1488 rpm – 315M cast iron

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Browse the motors, ask for a quote: every model with its data sheet and current price is on the Buy Electric Motors Online page. Send photos of the motor nameplates in your line via WhatsApp and we will work out the matching models with you.

A longer discussion of starting, protection and maintenance in recycling plants is in our motor selection in recycling plants article, and the supply process for crusher and conveyor motors is covered in crusher and conveyor motor supply.

Frequently asked questions

Which motor speed is most common in recycling plants?

Conveyor, feeder and screen drives commonly use a 4-pole motor (about 1500 rpm) with a gearbox. Fans and some fast rotors use 2-pole motors, while rotors with a large moment of inertia follow the speed specified by the machine builder.

The machine motor burnt out; how do I find the same one?

Send us the kW, speed, voltage and frame size from the old nameplate, together with the shaft diameter and mounting type. If the plate is unreadable, the foot hole spacing, shaft height and flange dimensions are enough.

Is the shredder motor in the DRG range?

Low-voltage motors up to 355 kW are in our range. Scrap shredders that need more power or medium voltage are outside it, and we say so plainly at quotation stage.

Where can I see prices for recycling motors?

Price depends on power, speed and housing material. Current figures appear in the live table above and on each product page.

Send the list of motors in your line or photos of their nameplates and we will work out the equivalents together: phone +90 (542) 666 11 11, WhatsApp +90 542 666 11 11, e-mail [email protected], contact page. All models: Buy Electric Motors Online.