APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PELLET

The present invention aims to provide a method for producing a pellet composed of a thermoplastic resin, the method suppressing the formation of bonded pellets, whiskers and defects of the cut surfaces of pellets, and cutting dust and providing the pellets having improved quality and improved productivity even if continuous production is performed for a long time, and to provide an apparatus for producing a pellet, the apparatus being useful for the production method and including a conveyor belt that conveys a strand formed by melting a composition containing a thermoplastic resin and an additive and then ejecting the molten composition from a feeder (1), a liquid-spraying device that sprays a liquid toward the strand conveyed, a gas-blowing device that blows a gas toward the strand conveyed, a strand cutter that cuts the strand conveyed into a pellet, the liquid-spraying device, the gas-blowing device, and the strand cutter being disposed in this order in the conveying direction of the strand, a measurement device that measures a surface temperature of the strand, the measurement device being disposed upstream of the strand cutter in the conveying direction, and an adjustment mechanism that adjusts driving of at least one of the liquid-spraying device and the gas-blowing device in accordance with the surface temperature measured.