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Performance of gear pumps in polymer processing
Author(s) -
McKelvey James M.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760240603
Subject(s) - gear pump , materials science , retrofitting , rotational speed , volumetric flow rate , mechanical engineering , extrusion , hydraulic pump , automotive engineering , process engineering , composite material , mechanics , structural engineering , engineering , physics
Within the past several years considerable interest has developed in the practice of retrofitting plasticating extruders with gear pumps. The primary motivation for this is to reduce surges and fluctuations in the extrusion rate, thereby improving product quality and reducing waste. It is shown that the effectiveness of a gear pump for this purpose is directly related to its volumetric efficiency, which depends upon the pump dimensions, the flow behavior of the polymer, and the operating variables of temperature, pressure differential, and pump speed. Experimental data on three thermoplastic materials using a pump having gear wheels of 36 mm diameter for both leakage and power are reported. These data have been correlated with semi‐empirical equations.