A Review on the Screw Configuration of Intermeshing Co-rotating Twin Screw Extruder

An intermeshing corotating twin screw extruder is mainly used for compounding polymeric materials. Twin screw extruder can adopt modular-type screw configurations, which directly controls the quality and productivity of the products. The types, shapes, and specifications of the screw and kneading elements are summarized, and the effects of screw configuration on the processabiliy of the materials are discussed. The principles of screw configuration universally applied to mass production of general-purpose resins are explained, and the guidelines of screw combination according to the roles of feeding, melt mixing, and metering zones are listed. The strategies of screw combination suitable for various cases, such as side feeding of liquid additives or inorganic fillers, reactive extrusion, devolatilization process, production of products requiring bright color and transparency, and processing of materials with low apparent specific gravity, are presented.