Performance study of barrier screws in the transition zone

This paper defines through a mathematical model the advantages and disadvantages of barrier screws as far as their melting and mixing performances in the transition zone are concerned. The melting analysis is based on the Tadmor's original model, and the flow in the melt channel is considered to be non‐Newtonian and nonisothermal. The performance of these barrier screws is investigated for the solids channel in terms of melting rate/interface a I contact area; melting efficiency; melting length; solid bed velocity profile; and power consumption in the melt film at barrel surface. For the melt channel, their performance is investigated in terms of pressure buildup; average bulk temperature; power consumption in the melt channel and in the main flight clearance at barrel surface; and average bulk mixing. The present study confirms that the increased‐pitch multichannel screw (Ingen Housz screw) outperforms clearly the other barrier screws investigated, since it gives the highest melting rate with reasonable pressure buildup in the melt channel. When compared with conventional screws, all the barrier screws examined give better melting performance.