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Modeling Residence Time Distributions for Single Screw

Extrusion Process

An-I Yeh” & Yih-Mon Jaw

Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, 59,
Lane 144, Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei. Taiwan

(Received 9 May 1997; accepted 8 December 1997)

ABSTRACT

The residence time distribution (RTD) of rice pour during single-screw extrusion
cooking at various operating conditions and screw profiles has been measured
and a model describing RTD has been developed. Increasing the feed rate
caused the reduction in residence time. High screw speed resulted in short
residence time, but large dispersion number The non-flight element yielded the
longest residence, but smallest dispersion number among three screw elements
tested. A mathematical model consisting of a plug j7ow reactor in series with a
continuous stirred tank reactor cross-flowing with a dead volume fitted well the
experimental data with correlation coefficients (r’) higher than 0.988. The
analysis showed that P (fraction of plug flow reactor) varied from 0.38 to 0.65.
A high screw speed or fitting a mixing disc induced more mixing action, and
thus a low value of P The use of the model with literature data demonstrated
that the model was applicable to food and non-food single-screw extrusion
process. The applications of different models were also discussed. 0 1998
Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved

NOTATION

b Fraction of effluent cross-flowing between CSTR and dead volume

G Tracer concentration in the dead volume (mg cm -‘)
cir, Concentration of tracer entering CSTR (mg cm-‘)
C<, Tracer concentration in the effluent of CSTR (mg cm ‘)
n’ Fraction of dead volume in CSTR
E(t) Exit age distribution (s-- ‘)

*Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.

211
212 A.-I. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

F(t) !‘E(t)
P Fraction of PFR
9 Volumetric flow rate of food material (cm” SK’)
Quantity of the tracer (mg)
L:
N
Total volume of the extruder (cm3)
Number of CSTR in series
t Time (s)
t Mean residence time (s)
th,d Value of t (used in statistical tests) for given probability level where h is
the probability level and d is the degree of freedom
CT2 Variance (s)
6, Dimensionless time (t/i)

INTRODUCTION

Extrusion cooking combines conveying, mixing, kneading, cooking and forming in

one unit and has been widely used in the food industry. Food materials undergo
transformations, such as gelatinization of starch and denaturation of protein, in the
extruder. The extent of the transformations is a function of time, temperature and
shearing force. The residence time distribution (RTD) is necessary to predict the
extent of the transformations. In addition, RTD has been used to investigate the
mixing and flow pattern of food material in an extruder (Harper, 1981). It is also
very helpful for scale-up (Bruin et al., 1978; Lin & Armstrong, 1988). The under-
standing of RTD is essential to develop a model for the flow pattren and to
determine the optimized operating conditions.
Two basic methods have been widely used to characterize RTD. First, the RTD
may be derived from the fundamental analysis of velocity profiles. The understand-
ing of the characteristics of screw geometry, thermal conditions, and rheological and
thermal properties of materials are required for this approach. The second method
is to construct a conceptual flow model which represents the main features of the
physical flow pattern. Combinations of plug flow reactor (PFR), continuous stirred
tank reactor (CSTR), CSTRs in series, CSTRs with a dead volume, laminar pipe
flow are frequently used. The measurement of RTD is required to establish a good
model fitting the data.
Several flow models, such as the dispersion model, Wolf-Resnick model, and
Levich model, have been developed for RTD in a single screw extruder. Van
Zuilichem et al. (1973) have considered the extruder as CSTRs-in-series and pointed
out that the flow pattern tended to be a PFR. Wolf and White (1976) compared the
fitting of different models to the experimental data and concluded that the model
derived from the velocity profile (Pinto & Tadmor, 1970) was a better representa-
tion than the combination of PFR and CSTR developed by Wolf and Resnick
(1963) for a plasticating extruder. However, no model fitted well the tail behavior
which is probably caused by the adhesion, dead spaces, and back-mixing or stagna-
tion. The model consisting of a PFR and a CSTR has been applied to the food
extruders (Davidson et al., 1983; Antila et al., 1984; Mange & Gelus, 1984; Bounie,
1988; Jager et al., 1995). However, the tailing phenomenon cannot be described by
this model. Davidson et al. (1983) have pointed out that the tailing can be described
by the Wolf-Resnick model for extrusion cooking of wheat starch. Jager et al.
 Modeling residence time distributions for single screw extrusion process 21.3

(1995) reported that a PFR in series with a cascade of CSTRs gave better tit of the
tailing. A model which can be used for different extruders and operating conditions
is needed for designing a process.
The effects of operating conditions on the RTD during single screw extrusion
cooking have been intensively studied. However, the studies on the effect of the
screw profile are limited. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects
of feed rate, screw speed, and screw element on the RTD and flow pattern in a
single screw extruder and to develop a model which can be used for different
operating conditions, materials, and extruders.

THEORETICAL ASPECTS

For a single screw extruder, there usually exists a tail in the E(t) curve. This may be
due to the presence of a dead volume. Levich et al. (1967) postulated that there was
a cross-flow between an active region which consisted of CSTRs-in-series and a dead
region. Jager et al. (1991) mentioned that the introduction of a dead volume could
correct the deviation between model and measurement. It is proposed that the flow
pattern in a single screw extruder, with a total volume of V, consists of a PFR in
series to a CSTR cross-flowing with a dead volume. The feed enters a PFR, with a
volume fraction of P, and then flows into a CSTR with a volume fraction of
(1 -d)( 1 -P). There exists a cross-flow which is equal in both directions between the
CSTR and the dead volume having a volume fraction of d( 1 -P). Let the effluent
from the CSTR be q and the flow rate of the cross-flow bq. Figure 1 illustrates the
schematic of the conceptual flow pattern. To analyze the system, the CSTR with a
dead volume was first considered. Complete descriptive equations for its RTD were
obtained by combining with the analysis on PFR. For a pulse input, the governing
equation derived from a material balance on the CSTR is

dc,,
(I -P)(l -d)V- = q(C,,, - C,,)+hq(G -C,,) (1)
dt

where

fraction of effluent from the CSTR into the dead volume

tracer concentration in the dead volume
concentration of tracer entering the CSTR
tracer concentration in the effluent of the CSTR
fraction of dead volume in the CSTR
P fraction of PFR
‘I volumetric flow rate of food material
v total volume of the extruder

with an initial condition of

cm =0 (3)
The governing equation derived from a material balance on the dead volume is
214 A.-I. Ye/z, Y-M. Jaw

dG
d(1 -P)V- = bq(C,, - G>
dt
with initial conditions of
G,(O) = 0 (4)
Cd(O) = 0 (5)
The Laplace transforms of both eqn (1) and eqn (3) are
(1 -P)( 1 -d)tSC,,=(Ci, -C,)+b(Td-C,,) (6)
--
d( 1 - P)tSC, = b(C, -C,) (7)
where t = V/q and is the mean residence time.
From eqn (7), Cd can be expressed in terms of c,, as

bC,,
c,= (8)
[ d( 1 - P)iS+b]

For a pulse input, Ci” = Q, the quantity of the tracer. cc, was determined from eqn
(6) and eqn (8) and expressed as
d( 1 - P)TS+b
c,,=Q (9)
[(I -P$S+m,][(l -P)tS+lQ]
where
(b+d) _+y’(d+b)’ -4db( 1 -d)
ml, m2 = (10)
241 -d)
Taking the inverse Laplace transformation of eqn (9) yielded
L ~ ’[C,,] = c,,

= mlt
Q
1
din, -b dm2-b
(11)
(1-P)i ml-m2 exp I - (1 -P)S -ml -mz exp

To obtain the equations for the whole system, the residence time in the _PFR needs
to be considered. As the volume of the PFE was PV, a time of PV/q = Pt is-needed
for the tracer to pass the PFR. In other words, there exists a time delay of Pt for the
tracer to enter the CSTR. Thus, a unit function is needed in eqn (11) and can be re-
expressed as

Q
co= (1 -P)i u(t) 1:1-,“, exp[ - m(;c~~~~]- zrz exp[ - “,:Liy:]}
1
u(t) = 0, t <Pi
u(t) = 1, t2Pi (12)
 Modeling residence time distrihufion,s ,for ,singlr screw extrusion process 215

According to the definitions (Levenspiel, 1972: Yeh CI al., 1992), E(t) and F(O) can
be obtained as

c,,
E(t)
=!‘,:ic,,

1
-(I-P)i dm,-h m,(t-Pi) _ + (1 -P)S do?-h
X eXP X e*p[ - n::TTL]i:,i
mI ml -m2 i - (l-P)T m2 07, -m2

which can be rearranged as

E(f) =
h(l
tn ,tt72

-P)i
u(t)
1
dtn,

rn, - 111~
-h
exp[ - “I;‘:;/??’ ] - ~~~~~l~ exp[ - ‘,t”_~~~‘-
]}
u(t) = 0. t < PF (14)
74(f)= I, r>Pi

and

j-,:; E(t 1 dr
F(r) =
jr; E(t) dr

dmlm2-hm2
F(t) = I-
h(m, -m2)
216 A.-l. Yeh. Y-M.Jaw

Since tli = 8, thus

dmlm2 -bm,
b(m 1-ml

(17)
u(O)=O, O<P

The values of P (the fraction of PFR), d (the fraction of the dead volume in the
CSTR), and b (the fraction of the effluent from the CSTR into the dead volume) in
eqn (17) were obtained from non-linear regression of the data.
In addition, the CSTR-in-series model was also considered for the comparison.
For CSTRs with equivalent volume, the number N can be calculated by the follow-
ing equation (Levenspiel, 1972).

-2

N= -k
(18)
o2

where

N number of CSTR in series

-2
t square of the mean residence time
o* variance of residence time distribution

Thus, the value of N can be calculated directly from the experimental data. Smith
(1981) reported a regression method (the least square method) as the best-fitting to
obtain the value of N. The equation used for the regression is

1
F(H) = 1 - eeN” l+NO+ f (NO)*+. . . + (19)
(N-l)! (Nd)N--

where

number of CSTR in series

dimensionless time

Non-linear regression of the experimental data was employed to obtain the value of
N in eqn (19). When N is unity, the extruder acts as a CSTR. The axial mixing
decreased as N increased. The flow pattern becomes a PFR when N is inifinite.
 Modeling residence time distributions ,for single screw extrusion process 217

Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the plug flow reactor in series with a CSTR cross-flowing with a dead
volume.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Indica polished rice (first crop in 1993) was purchased from Fen-Yuan Agriculture
Association in Central Taiwan. The rice was ground to pass a loo-mesh (ASTM)
screen using a stamp-mill. The proximate composition was analyzed using the
methods of AOAC (1984). Rice flour was pre-conditioned to have a moisture
content of 37% before extrusion cooking.

I: I
t 31.5an 1 llan 17.5
Fig. 2. The schematic diagram of a single screw extruder: (1) motor; (2) torque transducer;
(3) amplifier; (4) personal computer; (5) gear box; (6) feeder; (7) hopper: (8) barrel; (9)
screw; (10) heater; (I 1) die plate; (12) die space: (13) thermocouple; (14) pressure gauge.
218 A.-Z. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

A locally made (Tai-Yu Co., Taipei, Taiwan) single screw extruder (Fig. 2) was
used to carry out the experiments. The bore of the profile barrel had a diameter of
8.55 cm. The L/D ratio was 5.1:1 and the compression ratio was 2.1:1 when a
forward element was used. A diaphragm type pressure transducer and a thermo-
couple were inserted into the die for measuring the die pressure (data not shown)
and temperature. A torque transducer (TP-lOKMCB, Kyowa Co., Ltd., Tokyo,
Japan) was fitted between the motor and gear box to measure the torque which was
recorded by a personal computer. The screw profile was built up by segmented
screw elements. Three different screw profiles (Fig. 3) were used to test the effect
of screw elements (forward, mixing disc, and non-flight) on the flow pattern. The
major difference in screw profiles was the screw element (5 cm in length) used near
the tip of the screw. The forward element had a flight height of 1 cm. Five one-
tipped paddle type mixing discs having a unit length of 1 cm were staggered at 60”
in the forward direction. The barrel temperature was kept at 80°C. The non-flight
element was a cylindrical shape with the screw root diameter of 6.3 cm. Three screw
speeds (60, 90 and 120 rpm) and three feed rates (6, 9, 12 f0.3 kg h- ‘) were used.
At these conditions, the extruder was starve fed which was judged by measuring the
length of the filled screw after the experiments.
A stimulus-response technique was used to determine the RTD by following the
methods of Altomare and Ghossi (1986) and Bounie (1988). Erythrosin was used as
the tracer. When the operation was stable (judged by constant torque reading and
output), 30 mg of erythrosin premixed with 1 g of rice flour were added into the

forward screw profile

5 mixing disc 60” screw profile

5 cm non-flight screw profile

Fig. 3. Three screw profiles.
 Modeling residence time distributions for single screw extrusion process 21’)

extruder at time zero. The extrudates were collected every 20 s, dried at 45°C in an
air oven, and ground by a rotary speed mill (Pulverisette 14, Fritsch, Germany) to
pass a screen of 80 mesh (ASTM). The tracer was extracted from the sample using
1 M potassium hydroxide and its concentration was determined by a spectrophoto-
meter (Hitachi, model 200-20). The measurement was duplicated for each sample
and the average reading was recorded.
The experimental data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel version 5.0. E(t) and
F(0) curves were plotted using Sigmaplot for Windows. The minimum residence
time, mean residence time, variance of distribution, and dispersion number were
calculated from the experimental data using the equations demonstrated by Levens-
pie1 (1972) and Yeh et al. (1992). The computer softwares including SAS, Statistica
(SAS software system, release 6.04, SAS Institute, Cary, NC), Fortran, Microsoft
Excel version 5.0 and Sigmaplot for Windows were used for the analysis and regres-
sion of the experimental data and simulation of the model. Literature figures were
scanned using the Photoshop software and the coordinates of data points were
determined using Microsoft Excel version 5.0 in a personal computer. The suitability
of different models was tested using paired comparison (Huntsberger & Billingsky,
1981). The Student t-test was employed to test the hypothesis of no difference
between the experimental data and calculated values from the models at a conti-
dence level of 95% or 90%. Thus, t value was used as an index for the deviation of
the models. Larger f value indicated that more deviation existed between the model
and experimental data.

forward element, i = 431.7 SCL

mixing disc, i = 547 4 set
non-flight, i = 529.3 set

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Time (seconds)
Fig. 4. E(t) curves obtained with different screw profiles at a feed rate of 6 kg h ’ and screw
speed of 60 rpm.
220 A.-I. Yeh. Y-M.Jaw

600
forward element
500 -++- 60 rpm
-a- 90 rpm
400 4 120rpm

300

c 200

500 mixing discs

.-if
-c1

2 400

ii 300
a
.-
g 200

m'

2 500
non-flight element

400

300

200

100
4
6 9 12

Feed rate (kgihr)

Fig. 5. Mean residence time as a function of feed rate at the three different screw speeds
(upper graph, using a forward element; middle graph, using five mixing discs; lower graph,
using a non-flight element).
 Modeling residence time distributions for sitlgk screw extrusion process 221

0.3
forward element
-e- 60 rpm

0.2

0.1

5
I I I
5
mixing discs
z
d 0.2
E

z
s 0.1
0
.-
!!!
I I I

4
.- non-flight element
(7
0.2

0.1

0.0
6 9 12

Feed rate (kglhr)

Fig. 6. Effects of feed rate. screw speed. and screw profiles on the dispersion numhcr
222 A.-I. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The proximate compositions of the rice flour was analyzed as crude protein
6.66 *O-29%, water 12.8 &O-20%, crude lipid 0.46f0.01%, ash 0*42f0.02% and
79*7f058% of carbohydrate. The total starch content was 89.2 +0*68%(d.b.) and
amylose content was 27.5 &O-3% (based on the dry weight of starch).
The E(t) curve (Fig. 4) ended after 1000 s at the feed rate of 6 kg hh’ and screw
speed of 60 rpm. However, the tracer disappeared in 800 s (E curve not shown)
when the feed rate was increased to 12 kg h- . The time required for the disappear-
ance of tracer was affected by the operating conditions. In general, an increase in
feed rate or screw speed resulted in a decrease in residence time. This is similar to
results for a twin screw extruder (Yeh et al., 1992). The spreading of RTD became
broader at low feed rate and screw speed. This indicated that both feed rate and
screw speed affect the flow pattern in a single screw extruder as well as in a twin

TABLE 1
The Regressed Values of P (the fraction of PFR), d (the fraction of dead volume connected
to the CSTR), and b (the fraction of effluent from the CSTR into the dead volume) in eqn
(17) at Various Operating Conditions

Screw element Feed rate (kg h -‘) Screw speed (vm) P d h

Forward 6 60 0586 0.142 0.030

6 90 0.391 0.044 0.000
6 120 0.381 0.165 0.087
9 60 0599 0.088 0.00 1
9 90 0.489 0.119 0.012
9 120 0.440 0.133 0.009
12 60 0.65 1 0.163 0.017
12 90 0583 0.176 0.024
12 120 0540 0.217 0.040

Mixing disc 6 60 0.535 0.053 - 0.001

6 90 0.434 0.06 1 0.005
6 120 0.412 0.072 0.007
9 60 0.537 0.034 - 0.006
9 90 0.517 0.093 0.009
9 120 0.468 0.061 -0.001
12 60 0.565 0.049 - 0.009
12 90 0.531 0.049 - 0.005
12 120 0.505 0.068 - 0.003

Non-flight 6 60 0.616 0.102 0.008

6 90 0.518 0.153 0.027
120 0.449 0.125 0.022
: 60 0.625 0.040 - 0.007
9 90 0.610 0.150 0.021
9 120 0.546 0.126 0.014
12 60 0.646 0.205 0.040
12 90 0.623 0.100 0.001
12 120 0.607 0.092 -0.010
 Modeling residence titne distrihutiotu ,for single screw extrusion process 223

screw extruder. At various feed rates and screw speeds, the forward element always
yielded the shortest minimum time (data not shown) of the three screw profiles due
to its conveying capability. The mixing disc yielded a shorter minimum residence
time than the non-flight element, which indicated that the mixing disc had some
conveying capability. Kalyon and Sangani (1989) have compared the conveying
capability of mixing discs staggered at different angles and pointed out that 60
forward configuration gave rise to the maximum forwarding index.
The mean residence time decreased as the feed rate increased, especially when
the feed rate was increased from 6 to 9 kg hh’ (Fig. 5). The reduction in mean
residence time caused by increasing feed rate was more pronounced when mixing
disc or non-flight elements were used. This is different from the report of Van
Zuilichem et al. (1988) who pointed out that the reduction in feed rate did not vary
the mean residence time, but the RTD was flattened. In the study of Van Zuilichem
t’t al. (1988) the feed rate was changed from choke feeding to starved feeding for
maize. The difference may be due to the moisture content (37% in this study and
less than 22% by Van Zuilichem et al.). Increasing the feed rate caused an increase
in the degree of fill as in a twin extruder (Van Zuilichem et al., 1989) and thus in
conveying function. Therefore, the mean residence time was reduced by increasing

1.0

0.8

0.6

LL
0.4 Experimental data
. . _. - Wolf-Resnick model
(P=O.529)
0.2 - Calculated values (P=O.540,
d=0.217, b=0.040)

0.0

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Normalized Time (0)

Fig. 7. Comparisons of the experimental F(U) with the calculated values from the proposed
model and the Wolf-Resnick model. (A forward element was used with a feed rate of
12kgh ’ and screw speed of 120 rpm.)
224 A.-Z. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

feed rate as is the case in a twin extruder (Liang et al., 1994). The increase in screw
speed also resulted in a decrease in mean residence time. The forward element
yielded the shortest mean residence time among three screw elements. However, the
mixing disc yielded longer mean residence times than the non-flight element. This is
different from that of a twin screw extruder (Yeh & Hwang, 1992). The conveying
mechanism caused the difference. The positive-displacement is the major conveying
function in a twin screw extruder. The material is conveyed mainly by friction in a
single screw extruder and the mixing action prolonged the mean residence time.
The dispersion number was also affected by the operating conditions and screw
profiles (Fig. 6). When the screw speed was higher than 90 rpm, the dispersion
number decreased as the feed rate increased which caused a higher degree of fill in
the screw elements. This is similar to that in a twin screw extruder (Yeh et al., 1992).
However, the effect of feed rate on the dispersion number was very moderate at
screw speed of 60 rpm. Although the forward element yielded the shortest mean
residence time, it resulted in the highest dispersion number among the three ele-
ments at low screw speed. This indicated that the forward element exerted both high
conveying capability and axial mixing. Both the forward element and the mixing disc
exhibited similar dispersion numbers at high screw speed (120 rpm). As expected,

TABLE 2
The Number (N) of CSTR Obtained for the CSTRs-in-series Model Using the Experimental
Data”

Screw Feed Screw speed (rpm)

element rate
&hP’) 60 90

Forward 6 7
&2)
9 (5?h (4%)
(7;)
12
(28) (4.4)

Mixing disc 6 4
(32) $1)
9
V;p) $2)
12
W) $1)

Non-flight 6
({4) (3:)
9
(y (y
12
(9.0) (10.8)

“N was obtained from the regression fitting of eqn (19).

‘The numbers in the parentheses were calculated from eqn (18).
 Modeling residence time distributions for single screw extrusion process 225

0.8 -

0.6 -
z
LL 0 Experimental data
0.4 -
- - - -. - Calculated from
Eq’n (18), N=4
- Best fitting of
Eq’n (19), N=5

I I I I

1 .o 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

Normalized Time (0)

Fig. 8. The fittingof the CSTRs-in-series model to the experimental data. (A forward
clement was used with a feed rate of 12 kg h ’ and screw speed of 120 rpm.)

the non-flight element yielded the lowest dispersion number at various operating
conditions.
Three parameters, P (the fraction of PFR), d (the fraction of dead volume), and
h (the fraction of effluent from the CSTR into the dead volume) obtained by the
regression of the experimental data are listed in Table 1. The value of P varied from
0.381 to 0.651 which was different from 0~7.5(Bigg & Middleman, 1974; Bruin et al.,
1978) and the range of 0.6-0.7 reported by Wolf and White (1976) for a single-
screw extruder. It was smaller than that (0.7-0.75) reported by Liang et al. (1994),
but covered the range 0.41-055 (Lee & McCarthy, 1994) for a twin-screw extruder.
Also, it was different from a constant value (0.6) assumed by Fichtali et al. (1995)
for a twin screw extruder. These differences indicated that the value of P was
affected by operating conditions, materials, and extruders. For the operating condi-
tions tested, P increased with the feed rate, but decreased as the screw speed
increased. At high screw speed and low feed rate, the extruder tended to have a P
lower than 0.5. In a twin screw extruder, the ratio of feed rate to screw speed has
been used as an index of the degree of fill (Della Valle et al., 1987; Yeh et ul., 1992)
which affects the flow pattern. This concept seems applicable to a single screw
extruder. Increasing the feed rate resulted in a higher degree of fill, and thus the
extruder tended to have more fractions of PFR. The screw speed had the opposite
effect. The non-flight element yielded the highest P value among the three elements.
It appeared that the effect of operating conditions on P value was moderate when
the non-flight element was used. The mixing exerted by the mixing disc resulted in
the lowest value of P. Both the screw profile and operating conditions affected the
flow pattern.
226 A.-I. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

The fraction of dead volume, d, was in the range 0.034-0.217, which was also
affected by the operating conditions and screw profiles. The value of d was
increased by increasing the screw speed. High screw speed resulted in more radial
dispersion due to centrifugal force. This slowed down the movement of the material.
Thus there was more dead volume at high screw speed. The mixing disc yielded a
lower value of d compared with the other elements. It seemed that the fraction of
dead volume was reduced by mixing. For the forward and non-flight elements, the
highest d existed at high feed rate. It appeared that a high degree of fill resulted in
more dead volume. Unfortunately, the effects of operating conditions or screw
profile on the value of b cannot be identified clearly. In physical terms, the value of
b must be positive. When the negative values of b were taken as zero, the maximum
reduction in the correlation coefficient was only 4%. Thus, the negative values of b
in Table 1 were taken as zeroes to simulate the model. Although d and h were small
compared with P, they significantly affected the fitting of the experimental data.
The proposed model fitted well the experimental data with high correlated coeffi-
cients (?20.988). Figure 7 is an example comparing the fitting of the proposed
model with the Wolf-Resnick model consisting of a PFR and a CSTR. Both models
vielded similar values of P, 0540 and 0.529, respectively. But the Wolf-Resnick
*model underestimated F(0) when 0 varied from ‘0.65 to- 1.8. Through the paired

1.0

0.8

0.6

Z
LL
0.4 o Experimental data
- Calculated values (P=O.683,
d=0.127, b=0.014)
- _. . . Wolf-Resnick model
0.2 (P=O.680)

0.0
A - - Levich model

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Normalized Time (6)

Fig. 9. Models compared with literature data taken from Davidson et al. (1983) for wheat
starch. (The screw speed was 100 rpm with a moisture content of 25% and barrel tempera-
ture of 177°C.)
 Modeling residence time distributioru ,for single screw e,vtnrsion process 227

comparison, the t value (1.130) for the proposed model was smaller than tcl.os,+, of
1492. Thus, no difference existed between experimental data and calculated values
at the 95% confidence level. However, the Wolf-Resnick model yielded a t of 2.963
and was different from the experimental data. The analysis showed thta the pro-
posed model fitted the experiment data better than the Wolf-Resnick model. This
result was held for different screw profiles and operating conditions. The results
demonstrated that the introduction of a dead volume gave a better fitting.
Table 2 lists the regressed values of N for the best fitting of eqn (19). N decreased
as the screw speed increased, but increased with the feed rate. The mixing disc
yielded the lowest value of N among the three elements. This confirmed that the
mixing disc exerted more mixing than other elements. The numbers in the paren-
theses in Table 2 were calculated from eqn (18). The change of N calculated from
both eqn (18) and eqn (19) exhibited a similar trend. It appeared that eqn (IS)
yielded a lower value of N than eqn (19), especially at low screw speed (60 rpm).
Both equations yielded almost the same value of N when a mixing disc was used.
The fitting (y;!I O-85) of both equations of CSTRs-in-series was not as good as the
proposed model or the Wolf-Resnick model. Figure 8 illustrates the fitting of eqn
(18) and eqn (19). Eqn (18) and eqn (19) yielded an N of 4 and 5, respectively.
Experimentally, F(0) increased rapidly at 0 of 0.5, but the calculated F(O) from both
eqn (18) and eqn (19) increased gradually near a 0 of 0.25. Most of the calculated

1.0

0.8

0.6

z
LL
0.4
0 Experimental data
- Calculated values (P=O.776
d=O.lOl, b=O.OOl)
0.2 0 _- - . - Wolf-Resnick model
(P=O.774)

0.0 fi
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Normalized Time (0)

Comparison of the models with literature data taken from Bruin er al. (1978). (The
Fig. 10.
raw material was corn grits. The screw speed was 90 rpm with a moisture content of 20’5.)
228 A.-I. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

values deviated from the data at 0< 1.75. The calculated values were close to the
data when 0 was larger than l-75. This indicated that CSTRs-in-series was good for
modeling the tailing phenomenon. That may be the reason why Jager et al. (1995)
suggested a model consisting of a PFR and CSTRs-in-series. In comparison with
Fig. 7, the proposed model fitted the experimental data much better than the
CSTRs-in-series.
The proposed model was tested against literature data using different materials
and extruders. The calculated values from three models, Wolf-Resnick, Levich, and
the proposed model are shown in Fig. 9 in comparison with the data reported by
Davidson et al. (1983). Only the proposed model yielded a t (O-169) smaller than
t0.0s,20 of 1.725, which implied that no difference existed between the model and
data at the 95% confidence level. The analysis showed that both the Wolf-Resnick
(t of 1.85) and the Levich (t of 6.817) models were different from the experimental
data. As discussed above, the Wolf-Resnick model tended to underestimate F(O)
when 0 was in the range 0.8-1.5. The Levich model deviated from the experimental
data when 0 was greater than unity. However, the material (wheat starch), operating
conditions (moisture content of 25%, screw speed of 100 rpm, barrel temperature of
177”C), and the extruder (diameter of 1.9 cm and compression ratio of 3:l) were
quite different from those used in this study. The proposed model fitted the data
much better than the Wolf-Resnick and Levich models. The proposed model was

1.0

0.8

Experimental data
- Calculated values (P=O.702,
d=0.440, b=0.093)
Wolf-Resnick model
(P=O.659)

Normalized Time (0)

Fig. 11. Models compared with literature data for polyethylene from Wolf & White (1976).
(The screw speed was 36 rpm.)
 Modeling residence time distributions ,fbr single screw e.vtrusion process ‘2Y

also tested against single-screw extrusion cooking of corn grits (Bruin et al., 1978) as
shown in Fig. 10. In the study of Bruin et al. (1978), the barrel length was hl cm
with a bore of 4% cm. The compression ratio was varied from 1.15:1 to 3: 1.
Apparently, both the proposed model and the Wolf-Resnick model fitted well the
experimental data. Through the paired comparison, the proposed model yielded a t
of 0.018 much smaller than t,).,,,, of 1.333. There was no difference between the
experimental data and the proposed model at the 90% confidence level. The Wolf-
Resnick model yielded a t of 1.432 and the test hypothesis was rejected. Again, the
Wolf-Resnick model underestimated F(O) when 0 was greater than 0.8. The results
demonstrate that the proposed model can be applied to simulate the RTD during
single screw extrusion of foods.
In addition to food materials, the proposed model was further tested against the
data reported for plastics. The proposed model almost overlapped with the experi-
mental data for polyethylene (Wolf & White, 1976) as illustrated in Fig. 11. The
Wolf-Resnick model deviated from the data when 0 was larger than 0% From the
regression, the proposed model resulted in a little higher value of P (0.702) than
that (0.659) obtained from the Wolf-Resnick model. Since the proposed model
yielded a t value (0.475) smaller than t ,, 1.14 of 1.345, there was no difference
between calculated values and experimental data at the 90% confidence level. How-
ever, the Wolf-Resnick model yielded a t of 1.434 and thus the test hypothesis was

1.0

LL
0.4
Experimental data
- Calculated values (P=O.637,
d=0.231, b=0.005)
0.2 Wolf-Resnick model

0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Normalized Time (0)

Fig. 12. Models compared with literature data for polypropylene from Tzoganakis cv N/.
(1989). (The screw speed was 60 rpm and the barrel temperature was 220°C.)
230 A.-I. Yeh, Y-M. Jaw

rejected. For the extrusion of polypropylene (Tzoganakis et al., 1989) shown in Fig.
12, the proposed model almost overlapped with the experimental data. Again, the
Wolf-Resnick model underestimated F(O) when 0 was greater than 0.8. From the
analysis, the proposed model yielded a t (l-162) smaller than tO.os,2c1(1.699) and no
difference existed between the data and model at the 95% confidence level. Thus,
the proposed model fitted the data better than the Wolf-Resnick model yielding a
t of 5.325. This demonstrates that the proposed model can be used to simulate a
plasticating screw extruder fed with different materials at various operating condi-
tions.

CONCLUSION

The proposed model fitted very well the experimental data with r2>0.988. Low
screw speed or high feed rate resulted in a high fraction of PFR. The fraction of
PFR varied from 0.381 to O-651 for the operating conditions tested. Non-flight
elements resulted in higher fraction of PFR than other screw elements. The mixing
disc yielded a lower fraction of PFR due to its mixing action. The fraction of the
dead volume was in the range from 0.034 to 0.217. The introduction of the dead
volume was helpful for simulating the RTD. The analysis showed that the proposed
model fitted the data better than the existing models including CSTRs-in-series,
Wolf-Resnick, and Levich. Testing against literature data demonstrated that the
proposed model can be used for different extruders, materials, and operating condi-
tions. Thus, it is a good tool to simulate RTD for a single screw extrusion process.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study is part of the project sponsored by the National Science Council of the
Republic of China (project no. NSC-84-2214-E-002-039). The financial support is
greatly appreciated.

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