EXPERIMENTS AND SIMULATIONS WITH BARRIER SCREWS
		
		
		

		

			
Rafael J. Castillo, Dual Spiral Systems Inc., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

			David Strutt, Polydynamics, Inc., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

			John Vlachopoulos, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

			
		
		
		

		

			
Abstract
			Experiments were performed using four different industrial sized extruder barrier screws extruding two different polyethylene resins, 0.3 MI LDPE and 1.0 MI LLDPE, at two motor speeds. The data collected from these experiments consist of readings of pressure along the axis of the screw, exiting pressure, melt temperature, and output. The extruder motor load, screw speed and barrel temperature settings were also recorded. Experimental measurements are compared to computer simulation results from a flexible extrusion simulation approach which uses relatively simple models for pumping, heat transfer, and melting functions. The calculations are coupled through an iterative process, and are based on a number of assumptions. Reasonable agreement is found between experimental and predicted melt pressures.


		
		
	
		

		

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