AS2VRM — Single Drum Air Density Separator

• High-Volume, Low-Pressure
• Closed-Loop Air Recirculation
• Negative Chamber Pressure
• Built-In Dust Control
• VSD Controlled, Downward-Angled Acceleration Belt
• Modular

The M&K AS2VRM is a proven single drum air density separator/windshifter built for high-volume static recycling lines that demand clean, consistent separation and dust-controlled operation. The AS2VRM recirculates its air internally — creating negative chamber pressure, controlling dust, and reducing energy consumption.  A downward-angled acceleration belt prevents heavy materials with a large surface area from being incorrectly carried into the light fraction, delivering sharper separation accuracy from the outset.  Available from 1000mm to 2000mm accelerator belt widths, the AS2VRM is supplied as a standalone modular unit for direct integration into your recycling line or plant. A

How the AS2VRM Single Drum Air Density Separator Works

The AS2VRM uses a high-volume, low-pressure airstream to separate mixed waste streams into 2 clean fractions — heavy and light — as material passes over a single rotating drum. Two engineering features work together to deliver sharper separation accuracy than a conventional windshifter: a downward-angled VSD controlled acceleration belt and a closed-loop recirculating air system.

• Material feed: Mixed material is metered onto the acceleration belt at a controlled, even rate and distributed as a single layer across the full belt width. The acceleration belt is angled downward toward the separation drum. This downward angle is deliberate and important — it means that heavy materials with a disproportionately large surface area, which would otherwise be caught by the airstream despite their weight, are held against the belt by gravity and carried cleanly into the heavy fraction rather than being incorrectly lifted into the light fraction. The result is a sharper, more accurate separation from the first pass.
• Separation: As material leaves the belt and becomes airborne at the drum, a high-volume, low-pressure airstream passes through the separation chamber. Light-fraction materials — plastics, film, paper, lightweight organics — are carried by the airstream into the light-fraction discharge zone. Heavy-fraction materials — aggregates, metals, glass, dense organics — follow their natural ballistic arc and fall into the heavy-fraction discharge zone.
• Recirculation: Rather than exhausting air to atmosphere, the AS2VRM returns its air internally through a closed-loop duct system. Approximately 80% of the air is recirculated back into the separation chamber. This creates negative chamber pressure — air movement at feed and discharge openings is inward, not outward, so dust is drawn into the machine rather than expelled into the working environment.
• Filtration: The remaining 20% of air passes through an integral filter unit, capturing fine dust particles before any exhaust.

The result is clean, consistent two-fraction separation, a dust-controlled operating environment, and lower whole-life energy costs compared to open-loop windshifter designs.

The Downward-Angled Acceleration Belt — Why It Matters

One of the most common sources of separation error in air density separators is misclassification of heavy materials with a large surface area — flat wooden pieces, wide rigid plastic panels, large sheet metal offcuts. Despite being heavy, their large surface area means they can catch the airstream and be carried into the light fraction incorrectly, contaminating what should be a clean light-fraction output.

The AS2VRM addresses this directly with a downward-angled acceleration belt. Because the belt angles downward toward the separation drum, gravity acts on material during the acceleration phase — holding flat, large-surface-area heavy materials against the belt surface rather than allowing them to lift prematurely into the airstream. By the time material reaches the drum and becomes airborne, it has been correctly pre-sorted by the physics of the angled belt: genuinely light materials separate cleanly, while heavy materials with deceptive surface areas track correctly into the heavy fraction.

This is not a software adjustment or an operator setting — it is a geometric engineering feature built into every AS2VRM regardless of belt width. It works continuously and automatically on every ton of material processed.