Equipment and Tools Needed for Troubleshooting

Several tools are very important for troubleshooting a process. These tools include measuring devices for determining the geometry of the screw, measuring temperature, and collecting process data. Troubleshooting a process without these tools 

A sled device for measuring the depth of screw channels, barrier flight undercuts, and mixer flight undercuts is shown in Fig. 10.1. To use this device, the sled is positioned on the top of the screw with the micrometer tip contacting the top of the flight. The micrometer is zeroed at this position. Next the sled is slid axially on the screw, and the micrometer is adjusted until the top of the micrometer probe contacts 

A handheld thermocouple measurement device and an IR temperature sensor are very important to have for understanding the performance of the extruder. These devices have been discussed previously in this chapter. In many of the case studies presented later, the extrudate temperature was measured by immersing a handheld thermocouple probe into the extrudate. The entire probe length is immersed or draped in the extrudate to minimize heat conduction to cooler parts of the probe. The highest temperature measured is the reported value. If it is unsafe to measure the extrudate temperature using a handheld device, then an IR temperature sensor is used to estimate the discharge temperature. 

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