Enhancing Extrusion Performance: Macroscopic Analysis of Dispersive Mixing Sections

Abstract

Dispersion is a critical process within the extrusion industry. The attention of this study is drawn to the deficiency in dispersive mixing quality in single screw extruders compared to their twin screw counterparts. This study outlines an approach that is used to evaluate and quantify the quality of dispersive mixing sections, which are commonly added to single screw extruders to compensate for this inherent lack of dispersive mixing quality. The approach centers around employing micro-level dispersion models that describe the macro-breakup of agglomerates—specifically, rupture and erosion. These models are integrated with Computational Fluid Dynamics to quantify the particle size of solid additives before, during, and after traversing these crucial mixing sections. Using a non-isothermal Generalized Newtonian Fluid model with particle tracking and dispersion kinetics modeling. This new methodology facilitates swift analysis of mixing sections and offers a fresh avenue to study and optimize the extrusion process.