A continuous kneading device including a pair of kneading rotors, capable of increasing mesh between the kneading rotors while also suppressing a kneading load applied to the kneading rotors. The continuous kneading device including a barrel and a pair of kneading rotors housed in the barrel. The kneading rotors rotate in mesh in directions different from each other. Each kneading rotor includes a plurality of kneading flights for kneading a material supplied into the barrel. The material is fed axially from the upstream kneading section to the downstream kneading section to be sequentially kneaded. The kneading flight constituting the downstream kneading section has a rotational outer diameter larger than a rotational outer diameter of the kneading flight constituting the upstream kneading section.

An improved screw has a shaft having a surface and a central axis and at least one flight extending helically along the surface of the shaft in successive turns. A continuous groove is formed in the surface of the shaft and extends between successive, pushing and trailing, turns of the flight at a selected angle greater than zero. The groove defines at least one generally triangular land having a base aligned with a pushing turn of the flight and an apex between successive turns of the flight. The groove also defines another generally triangular land having a base aligned with a trailing turn of the flight. Barriers or dams may be provided on the lands and in the grooves. A second continuous groove may also be formed in the surface of the shaft.

An improved screw has a shaft having a surface and a central axis and at least one flight extending helically along the surface of the shaft in successive turns. A continuous groove is formed in the surface of the shaft and extends between successive, pushing and trailing, turns of the flight at a selected angle greater than zero. The groove defines at least one generally triangular land having a base aligned with a pushing turn of the flight and an apex between successive turns of the flight. The groove also defines another generally triangular land having a base aligned with a trailing turn of the flight. Barriers or dams may be provided on the lands and in the grooves. A second continuous groove may also be formed in the surface of the shaft.

A composite and method for producing the composite by incorporating wood or wood pulp fibres with a suitable thermoplastic polymer and coupling agent are described. Homogeneous, void-free transparent/translucent thermoplastic materials in the form of pellets, films or three-dimensional moldable products are produced. The wood pulp fibres can be discrete natural fibres, and flexible assemblies of nano to micro elements, e.g., assemblies of aggregated carbon nanotubes. It is also possible to use our vacuum-assisted co-extrusion process to produce hybrid composites comprising the wood pulp fibre and a further rigid fibre, like glass or carbon fibres, and a flexible fibre or fibrillar network, like cellulose fibres or cellulose filaments. The thermoplastic resin can be, but not limited to, polyolefins, like polypropylene or polyethylene, or polyesters, like polylactic acid, or co-polymers, like acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer.

The invention relates to mixing elements that have a larger number of basic geometric periods per section and an improved dispersing effect for multi-shaft screw extruders comprising screw shafts that co-rotate in pairs. The invention further relates to the use of the mixing elements in multi-shaft screw extruders, a corresponding screw extruder comprising the mixing elements, and a method for extruding kneadable materials.

Provided is a technology capable of producing a paste with desired viscosity. A twin-screw extruding kneader includes: a housing; two rotational shafts arranged inside the housing; and paddles arranged around each rotational shaft. A paddle length L1 and a clearance C1, and a paddle length L2 and a clearance C2 are set to satisfy a conditional expression shown in the following Math. 1, the paddle length L1 being the sum of thicknesses of all the paddles arranged around the rotational shaft in a stiffly kneading zone, the clearance C1 being the smallest gap width between the paddle arranged in the stiffly kneading zone and the housing, the paddle length L2 being the sum of thicknesses of all the paddles arranged around the rotational shaft in a diluting zone, the clearance C2 being the smallest gap width between the paddle arranged in the diluting zone and the housing.
(L1 /C1)/(L2/C2)1.4[Math. 1] L1: Paddle length in stiffly kneading zone C1: Clearance in stiffly kneading zone L2: Paddle length in diluting zone C2: Clearance in diluting zone

A method of fabricating an extended release subcutaneous medicinal dosage implant system which includes an implant fabricated from a highly homogeneously mixed composition including a medicinal agent in combination with release controlling polymers which include poly (DL-lactide) and polycaprolactone. In one implementation for treating an opioid disease, the formulation composition includes naltrexone at 40 weight percent, poly (DL-lactide) in the approximate range between 36 and 46.4 weight percent, and polycaprolactone in the approximate range between 24 and 11.6 weight percent. In addition, in order to provide anti-biofouling quality and prevent foreign body adsorption/interaction with the material of the implant, polyethylene glycol is added in a preferred content of 2.0%. The manufacturing process includes hot melt extrusion and a mini jet based implant formation stage with the optimized process space were the temperature of the process ranges from 170? C.-180? C., mixing time through the HME process ranging from 8 minutes to 12 minutes, and injection time ranging from 8 seconds to 12 seconds. The resulting implants have a uniquely shaped free of defects bio absorbable solid body.

In an embodiment, a method of dewatering a wet polymer composition comprises introducing the wet polymer composition via a polymer feed location to a powder conveying section of an extruder; wherein the wet polymer composition comprises greater than or equal to 1 wt % of water based on the total weight of the wet polymer composition; venting the water through a conveying section vent to form a dry polymer composition; melt kneading the dry polymer composition in a melt kneading section of the extruder to form a polymer melt; conveying the polymer melt in a melt conveying section of the extruder; and adding an additive in one or both of the powder conveying section and the melt conveying section.

A twin-screw extrusion kneader includes: two rotating shafts provided side by side in an internal space; a rotational driving portion configured to rotationally drive the rotating shafts; and paddles provided in the rotating shafts and configured to rotate along with the rotating shafts so as to knead a kneading material. Further, the twin-screw extrusion kneader includes movable portions provided as members constituting a part of the housing, the part of the housing including an inner wall surface of the housing, the inner wall surface being opposed to radially outer peripheral surfaces of the paddles. The movable portions can be moved in a direction to approach the paddles and in a direction to be distanced from the paddles.

The invention relates to a method and to an assembly for recycling plastic materials, comprising the following processing steps: a) reprocessing the raw material, wherein the material, if necessary, is comminuted and brought into a fluid-like form and heated and permanently mixed, while preserving the lumpiness and pourability thereof, and optionally the viscosity thereof is increased and/or it is degassed, softened, dried and/or crystallized; b) melting the reprocessed material, at least so much that filtration is possible; c) filtering the melt in order to remove impurities; d) homogenizing the filtered melt; e) degassing the homogenized melt; and f) discharging and/or subsequently processing the melt, such as by granulation, blown film processing, with said processing steps being carried out consecutively in the order listed (FIG. 2).