FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF MIXING PHENOMENA IN TANGENTIAL TWIN-SCREW EXTRUDERS FOR NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Abstract

A flow analysis of non-Newtonian fluids inside co-rotating tangential twin-screw extruders is presented with the emphasis on mixing phenomena. A new simplified approach was proposed in modelling the flow, i.e. the flow in twin-screw extruders was considered as a sequence of flows in two regions: (i) the translation region (T-region), similar to a single-screw extruder; and (ii) the mixing region (M-region), representing the central part of twin-screw extruders. The flow has been assumed to be isothermal, steady-state and creeping. Furthermore, it was assumed that the velocity field does not change significantly in one co-ordinate (i.e. the down-channel direction in the case of the T-region and the axial direction in the case of the M-region) as compared with the other co-ordinate directions. Accordingly, a quasi-three-dimensional finite element method has been developed to analyse the flows in both regions. The mixing mechanisms inside the T-and M-regions were analysed and the inter-channel mixing in the M-region was quantified. The residence time distribution and performance characteristic of a single screw with a self-wiping profile were also calculated.