This paper discusses our preliminary trials examining the particle size and particle shape of granules produced by different screw elements in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. In general, conveying elements did not provide the necessary consolidation to allow large particles to grow in significant quantity, whereas the different mixing elements led to the large particles desired for tablettin...

Combining statistical process control, artificial neural networks and an expert system for the intelligent analysis and control of a plastic extruder facility is described. Statistical methodology is compared and contrasted to the exploratory neural network technique, which learns to relate and classify dependent production variables based on measurements taken on-line during the process. Integ...