THE MODELING OF COUNTER-ROTATING TWIN-SCREW EXTRUDERS AS REACTORS FORSINGLE-COMPONENT REACTIONS

Numerical models are useful to study the behaviour of the extruder as a polymerization reactor. With a correct numerical model a theoretical analysis of the influence of several reaction and extruder parameters can be made, the limitations of the use of the extruder reactor can b e determined and the effects of scale-up can be studied. The numerical model developed for a single-component reaction in a twin screw extru der shows good agreement with experimental data for the polymerization of n-butylmethacrylate during the reactive extrusion process. At low rotation rates a disagreement may occur between experiments and predic ted data. However, the program is very useful for industrial scale pro cesses where extruders operate in the area of high rotational speeds.