Solid conveying

Some feed hoppers are equipped with crammer feeders see Fig. 7.3. 

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Hyperforming A hydrodesulfurization process in which the catalyst moves by gravity down the reactor and is returned to the top by a solids conveying technique known as hyperflow. Developed by the Union Oil Company of California in 1952 and first operated commercially in 1955. 

Stream process operation. This type of machine is referred to as a plasticating singlescrew extruder. The barrel is usually heated with a minimum of three temperature zones. These different temperature zones are consistent with the three utilitarian functions of the screw solids conveying, melting, and pumping or metering of the polymer. 

The fundamental processes and mechanisms that control single-screw extrusion are presented in Chapters 5 through 8. These processes include solids conveying, melting, polymer fluid flow, and mixing. The analyses presented in these chapters focus on easily utilized functions needed to assess the operation of the single-screw extruder. The derivation of these relationships will be presented in detail in the appendices for those who desire to explore the theory of extrusion in more detail. 

As shown in Fig. 4.1, resin feedstocks have a considerable level of interparticle space that is occupied by air. This level of space and thus the bulk density of the feedstock depend on the temperature, pressure, pellet (or powder) shape, resin type, and the level and shape of the recycle material. For a specific resin feedstock, the bulk density Increases with both temperature and the applied pressure. Understanding the compaction behavior of a resin feedstock is essential for both screw design and numerical simulation of the solids-conveying and melting processes. Screw channels must be able to accommodate the change in the bulk density to mitigate the entrainment of air and the decomposition of resin at the root of the screw. Typically, screw channels are set by using an acceptable compression ratio and compression rate for the resin. These parameters will be discussed in Section 6.1. 

Figure 4.4 Bulk density as a function of temperature and pressure for an LORE resin in the pellet form. This is the same LORE resin used in the solids-conveying studies of Section 5.3.2...

The original solids-conveying model developed by Darnel and Mol [7] assumed that the pressure (or stress) in the solid bed is isotropic. This assumption was made to simplify the mathematics and because of the lack of stress data for solid bed compacts. Previous research, however, showed that stresses in solid compacts are not isotropic [8]. Anisotropic stresses can be represented by the lateral stress ratio. It is defined as the ratio of the compressive stress in the secondary direction to the compressive stress in the primary direction, as shown in Fig. 4.7 and Eq. 4.1. 

Spalding, M.A., Hyun, K.S., and Cohen, B.R., An Experimental Study of the Frictional and Viscous Forces Responsible for Solids Conveying and Melting in Single-Screw Plasticating Extruders, SPE ANTEC Tech. Papers, 43, 202 (1997)... 

This chapter provides a description of the solids conveying process and the theoretical models in the literature. The literature models will be presented before the experimental solids conveying data because only recently has experimental data become available for this process section. That is, the early theoretical models were developed without actual solids conveying data. Data will be presented regarding the temperature and forces that are associated with solids conveying of different polymers. Next, a comparison of the models with the experimental data will be provided. Both smooth bore and grooved barrel feed sections will be presented. The field experiences of the authors, however, are dominated by smooth bore extruders. 

Figure 5.1 A typical plasticating extruder with a smooth barrel solids conveying section...

Literature Review of Smooth-Bore Solids Conveying Models... 

Tadmor and Broyer [16, 17] produced two more solids conveying models a modified version of Tadmor s earlier model [1], which assumed isothermality [16], and a second model that allowed for thermal effects [17]. Later, a model by Strand et al. [18] was developed based on the Tadmor-Klein model for starve-fed solids conveying. 

Like the original Darnell-Mol model, the Tadmor-Kleln model was developed with only very limited rate data because solids conveying measuring devices were not available at that time. Moreover, dynamic coefficient of friction data were also unavailable during their model developments. Complete plastlcatlng extrusion simulations, however, were developed with the Tadmor-Kleln model using engineering friction coefficients to estimate the characteristics in the process. 

Several solids conveying models were developed by Campbell and his students at Clarkson University [19, 20]. These models will be referred to as either the Clarkson University models or the Campbell models. They proposed that the movement of the screw flight was pushing the polymer bed as the screw turns rather than the frictional force at the barrel moving the polymer pellets down the screw. For these models, they assumed that the solid bed behaved more like an elastic fluid rather than a solid and removed the torque balance constraint. Campbell and Dontula [20] reasoned that because the solid polymer pellets more closely resemble an elastic particulate fluid, no torque balance in the bed would be necessary. They further assumed that the force normal to the pushing flight was due to a combination of the force due to the pressure in the channel and a force proportional to the frictional force exerted at the barrel by the solid bed. The Campbell-Dontula model was first published as ... 

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