Abstract
AbstractPolymer extrusion is an important but an energy intensive method of processing polymeric materials. The rapid increase in demand of polymeric products has forced manufactures to rethink their processing efficiencies to manufacture good quality products with low‐unit‐cost. Here, analyzing the operational conditions has become a key strategy to achieve both energy and thermal efficiencies simultaneously. This study aims to explore the effects of polymers' rheology on the energy consumption and melt thermal quality (ie, a thermally homogeneous melt flow in both radial and axil directions) of extruders. Six commodity grades of polymers (LDPE, LLDPE, PP, PET, PS, and PMMA) were processed at different conditions in two types of continuous screw extruders. Total power, motor power, and melt temperature profiles were analyzed in an industrial scale single‐screw extruder. Moreover, the active power (AP), mass throughput, torque, and power factor were measured in a laboratory scale twin‐screw extruder. The results confirmed that the specific energy consumption for both single and twin screw extruders tends to decrease with the processing speed. However, this action deteriorates the thermal stability of the melt regardless the nature of the polymer. Rheological characterization results showed that the viscosity of LDPE and PS exhibited a normal shear thinning behavior. However, PMMA presented a shear thickening behavior at moderate‐to‐high shear rates, indicating the possible formation of entanglements. Overall, the findings of this work confirm that the materials' rheology has an appreciable correlation with the energy consumption in polymer extrusion and also most of the findings are in agreement with the previously reported investigations. Therefore, further research should be useful for identifying possible correlations between key process parameters and hence to further understand the processing behavior for wide range of machines, polymers, and operating conditions.
Highlights
Extrusion serves as a dominant technique of processing polymeric materials all over the world
It can be concluded that materials' rheology has a vital effect on the energy consumption in polymer extrusion in agreement with the previous investigations as well
In order to increase the rate of production, it can be recommended to work with the maximum possible processing speed, provided that it does not compromise the thermal stability of the molten material
Summary
Extrusion serves as a dominant technique of processing polymeric materials all over the world. Around 50% of the global polymer production involves, somehow, an extrusion process in their manufacturing process.[1] processes demand considerable amounts of energy,[2,3,4,5,6,7] mainly due to the traditional processing conditions at which the manufacturers are used to work.[2,7,8,9,10] Mostly, these settings are limited to maintain the quality of the product neglecting the intensive power consumption of the machine. The best operating point comprises the thermal homogeneity of the polymer melt, and the energy efficiency of the extruder.[2,7,8,9,10] Usually, the processing conditions which are solely chosen by the operator determine the power consumption in each process. The study will offer valuable insights into the reduction of energy consumption in the extrusion processes while optimizing the product quality and cost
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