January 30, 2019
The size and shape of catalysts can have a major effect on how much activity they produce and how effective they are at their jobs overall. Particle size, in particular, can increase activity or create pressure drops, which can not only affect the outcome of the reaction but they also can affect your bottom line. Catalyst production can be costly, so creating the best possible product every time is a must.
December 20, 2018
What can extruders do? To put it simply, just about anything. Extruders are a key component of the manufacturing process, so when combined with feeding, cutting, de-airing and other forms of equipment, they can create everything from pet treats to hydrocolloid used for colonoscopy bags. Let's explore the most common types of extruder machines and the industries they can serve.
October 11, 2018
To understand what an extruder is, we must first know what the process of extrusion is. Extrusion is when a material, usually pellets, dry powder, rubber, plastic, metal bar stock or even food is heated and pushed through a die. A die is essentially a mold that shapes the material as it is forced through the small opening to the other side. It's one of the most common ways to produce sheets and strips of stock metal, plastic and rubber shapes.
August 7, 2018
If you take a bolt, having a nut on it, and revolve the bolt, in a fixed axis, both the bolt and the nut revolve. Then, if you hold the nut with a wrench, and revolve the bolt, in the proper direction, the nut will travel forward and fall off the end of the bolt. A clay auger works in a similar manner. Inside of the closed auger barrel there is a “clay nut” which moves forward on the screw. The clay nut is ephemeral. The clay nut is constantly being destroyed by passing off the end of the auger, and it is constantly being reformed by feed material entering the closed auger barrel from the feed hopper, or vacuum chamber.
August 7, 2018
Words, such as pellet, briquette, nodule, ball, sphere and compacting, all relate to some type of agglomeration and are familiar to all of us. Agglomeration has become an essential operation for reasons, such as processed material in some cases can shipped without special packaging, reduction of fines and dust, easier and more efficient handling, less volume for a given weight, and there are even some instances where the finished product is psychologically more attractive. Also, when the finished product consists of two or more ingredients, agglomeration will provide uniformity and prevent separation.