Numerical and experimental study of agglomerate dispersion in polymer extrusion

Abstract

A model for agglomerate dispersion in screw extruders was developed and superimposed on the flow patterns as simulated using the FIDAP software. A particle tracking algorithm with an adaptive time step was used to follow the agglomerates trajectory. Along this flow path, the breakup probability was estimated using a Monte Carlo method and in conjunction with the local fragmentation number. Particle size distributions and Shannon entropy were computed along the screw channel. The results show good qualitative agreement between model predictions and experimental data.