Feedstock Extrusion Equipment (Difficult Materials)
Diamond America extruders may be used as feedstock extrusion equipment to produce feedstock from hard to handle materials, for example those which are sticky or have high viscosity and are extremely difficult to process.
Properties of FEEDSTOCK
Feedstock is defined as a raw or unprocessed material fed into a conversion process. The result of the process may be finished products, or energy or more feedstock for further processing.
Propylene and ethylene are chemical feedstock derived from petroleum. Both are used in the manufacture of plastics, usually in pellet form. Feedstock, by definition, is vital to the production process for which it is made, so the process cannot be completed without the feedstock supply.
Application Notes
It is important to prepare feedstock in a form that is manageable for its process requirements. This may involve changing the state of the feedstock material, for example generating an extruder melt that is then thoroughly mixed to ensure uniformity of its constituent parts, before pelletizing.
Materials that are sticky or viscous are extremely difficult to process and do not feed or mix well in a single screw extruder, which is flood fed. A twin packer feed extruder, which is starve fed, provides a much better alternative for these hard to handle materials.
Feedstock Example
Plastic scrap is prepared as feedstock for plastic recycling processes by extrusion, to ensure homogeneity, before granulating or pelletizing the material after exit from the extrusion die.