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Conduction melting of polymer pellets
Author(s) -
Chung C. I.,
Wang N.
Publication year - 1990
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.760301903
Subject(s) - pellet , pellets , materials science , silicone oil , composite material , thermal conduction , silicone , polymer , plastics extrusion , heat transfer , thermodynamics , physics
A study of melting a polymer pellet immersed in a hot silicone oil bath was conducted. The temperature rise at the center of the pellet was recorded. This experiment simulates the conduction melting mechanism of polymer solid pieces mixed in the hot melt inside an extruder screw channel. The pellets immersed in the silicone oil melted quite slowly, taking around one minute to melt a spherical pellet of about 4.5 mm diameter. The heating time could be greatly decreased by stirring the silicone oil to increase the heat transfer from the silicone oil to the pellet. Analysis of the conduction melting mechanism showed that the size reduction of the solid would be most effective in decreasing the heating time.