​MSS Unveils Next-Generation Optical Fiber Sorting Technology

MSS, Inc., the optical sorter division of the CP Group, is introducing its next generation fiber sorting technology, the CIRRUS® FiberMax™. Based on the popular CIRRUS sensor platform, the FiberMax provides increased sorting speeds, sensing capability and operating flexibility. 

The ultra high-speed conveyor belt of the CIRRUS FiberMax runs at twice the speed of conventional optical sorters, and a proprietary air-assist and material handling system keeps the paper moving through the sensing zone in a laminar flow without turbulence. It sorts paper 40x faster than manual sorting thanks to belt speeds of 1,000 feet per minute. Every CIRRUS FiberMax is also equipped with an intuitive learning algorithm that adapts to changes in the ever evolving material stream. An automated software assistant speeds up the programming of different or new types of contaminants and automates the fine-tuning of the sort recipe, all the while helping it to make distinctions the human eye cannot. 

According to MSS, the CIRRUS FiberMax generates a higher purity paper grade for better marketability than previous units offered to the industry. In one recent installation, the CIRRUS FiberMax decreased the level of prohibitives in a residential mixed paper stream from about 10% to less than 3% consistently. Additionally, it reduced the sorter head count by 12. The CIRRUS FiberMax also comes with a variety of upgrades, one of them being an integrated vacuum suction system to remove ultra light flexible packaging such as film and bags during the ejection process right inside the eject hood. It can also be built to custom width, up to 112"/2800mm wide.

The CIRRUS FiberMax is currently running in both commercial paper recycling operations (recovering mixed paper and sorted office paper), and residential fiber operations (removing prohibitives and outthrows from newspaper and mixed paper). In both applications it is exceeding expectations, according to CP Group. 

“This is a very exciting next step for the CIRRUS technology," says Greg Thibado, MSS Vice President. "The CIRRUS FiberMax further improves on the already high NIR, color, and metal scan rates and is running at faster belt speeds than ever before. These improvements 'future-proof' the CIRRUS FiberMax against any foreseeable changes in the material stream processed by MRFs and paper sorting facilities."