Journal of Food Engineering 92 (2009) 152156

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Journal of Food Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Analytical solution of single screw extrusion applicable to intermediate

values of screw channel aspect ratio
Marcus Vincius C. Alves, Jader R. Barbosa Jr. *, Alvaro T. Prata
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianpolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 28 May 2008
Received in revised form 1 October 2008
Accepted 30 October 2008
Available online 14 November 2008
Keywords:
Single screw extruders
Integral transforms
Analytical solution

a b s t r a c t
The purpose of this work is to advance an alternative analytical solution of the pure drag ow in single
screw extruders which is also applicable to intermediate values of the screw channel cross-section aspect
ratio. The model is based on that of Li and Hsieh [Li, Y., Hsieh, F., 1996. Modeling of ow in a single screw
extruder. Journal of Food Engineering 17, 353375] for the isothermal ow of a Newtonian uid in a small
curvature screw channel where the motion of the screw ights are taken into account in the boundary
conditions. The resulting boundary value problem was solved analytically via the generalized integral
transform technique (GITT). The model was validated against other models available in the open literature. The effect of parameters related with the screw geometry, i.e., the aspect ratio, the curvature ratio
and the helix ratio, on the down channel ow rate is also explored in the manuscript.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Screw extrusion is a well-established technology extensively
employed in areas such as polymer processing, food production
and continuous feed processing. According to Rauwendaal (1986)
and Li and Hsieh (1996), the hydrodynamic theory of screw extruders began with Rowell and Finlayson (1922, 1928). In these pioneering models, the motion of the screw ights was neglected in
the boundary conditions.
From a mathematical standpoint, neglecting the effect of the
screw ights is very convenient, since only one of the four boundary conditions of the 2D Poisson equation for the down channel
velocity becomes non-homogeneous. However, Campbell et al.
(1992) presented experimental evidence that the classical approach of Rowell and Finlayson (1922, 1928) was valid only for
very large values of the screw channel aspect ratio, c, dened as
the ratio of the channel width, W, to the channel height, H (see
Fig. 1a). Campbell et al. concluded that the screw ights play the
most important role in determining the screw throughput and recommended that the approximation of Rowell and Finlayson by
then employed in several important studies such as those by Grifth (1962), Fenner (1977), Tadmor and Klein (1978) and Tadmor
and Gogos (1979) should be left aside for screws with large aspect ratios, and that an improved methodology should be
developed.
More recently, Li and Hsieh (1996) developed a physically consistent model which took into account the inuence of the motion
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +55 48 3234 5166.
E-mail address: jrb@polo.ufsc.br (J.R. Barbosa Jr).
0260-8774/$ - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2008.10.037

of the screw ights on the boundary conditions for the down channel velocity. The resulting non-homogeneous problem was solved
through a superposition of two problems one for the motion of
the screw ights and the other for the motion of the screw core
with homogeneous boundary conditions which were solved analytically via the nite sine transformation method. A result of this
approach was the appearance of constants in the equations for the
down channel velocity prole and ow rate which were dependent
on the screw channel aspect ratio, c. These constants were set by
the authors only for values of aspect ratio that are large (no screw
ights inuence) or small (no screw core inuence), leaving no
specic constants for intermediate (near unity) values of aspect
ratio.
In the present work, the model of Li and Hsieh (1996) is solved
analytically and a single algebraic relationship for the down channel velocity and ow rate is obtained for intermediate as well as for
small and large values of the screw channel aspect ratio. The convenience of a unied solution is particularly important when an
optimum value of the channel aspect ratio needs to be determined
for a specic operating condition. Although this may not be the
case in some applications such as polymer processing where
typical values of channel aspect ratio are much greater than unity
other screw technology applications may show an improved
performance at intermediate aspect ratios (Alves, 2007).
The unied solution was achieved via the generalized integral
transform technique (GITT) (zisik, 1992; Cotta, 1993). The working principle of the GITT is to transform a partial differential equation into an ordinary differential equation using a convolution of
the original equation with the solution of a related eigenvalue
problem (eigenfunction). Although the solution will have the form

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M.V.C. Alves et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 92 (2009) 152156

Nomenclature
Roman symbols
e
screw ight width
H
channel depth
H2
k l1 op
oz XRB dimensionless pressure drop
L
channel length
p
R W R Hthermodynamic pressure
Q 0 0 wx; ydxdy volume ow rate
Q  H2QXR

Greek symbols
ai icp eigenvalues of the solution of the problem

c WH
h

j RHB
K 2pRB tanh screw pitch
l
dynamic viscosity
q
density
s RKB
screw helix ratio
ui x solution of the eigenvalue problem (eigenfunction)

dimensionless ow rate

B RS H screw barrel radius

screw core radius
RS
u
velocity in the x direction
v
velocity in the y direction
w
velocity in the z direction
W
channel width
x
channel width coordinate
y
channel depth coordinate
z
down channel coordinate

Superscripts

2. Problem formulation
The model of Li and Hsieh (1996) assumes that the screw curvature is small and the curved surfaces of the channel can be unwrapped to become at plates. In the coordinate system of
Fig. 1.b, the steady-state equations of motion for a Newtonian, isothermal, incompressible uid with constant properties and negligible body forces in laminar ow are given by,
2

ou
ou
ou
op
o u o u o u
qu v w  l 2 2 2
ox
oy
oz
ox
ox
oy
oz
2

ov
ov
ov
op
o v o v o v
qu v w  l 2 2 2
oy
ox
oy
oz
ox
oy
oz

qu

indicates dimensionless variables

indicates transformed variable

of an innite series, the GITT is known for providing fast convergence rates, so only a few terms in the series are necessary, thereby
reducing the overall computing time.

screw aspect ratio

screw helix angle
rotational velocity
screw curvature ratio

ow
ow
ow
op
o2 w o2 w o2 w
v
w  l 2 2 2
ox
oy
oz
oz
ox
oy
oz

In the present problem, the inertia terms in the above equations

can be neglected because (i) the velocities are low, (ii) the uid dynamic viscosity is high and (iii) the characteristic dimensions of the
problem are small. Assuming that v  0 and that the ow is fully
developed the equations of motion can be reduced to (Li and Hsieh,
1996),

op
o2 u
l 2
ox
oy
op
0
oy
op
l
oz

4
5

!
o2 w o2 w
2
ox2
oy

Eq. (6) is the classical screw extruder model for the down channel velocity (Rowell and Finlayson, 1922, 1928; Tadmor and Klein,
1978; Tadmor and Gogos, 1979; Rauwendaal, 1986). The set of
boundary conditions which take into account the motion of the
screw ights, as shown in Fig. 2, is given by,

dp
dz

RS

2 Rb

Fig. 1. Coordinate system and basic screw parameters.

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M.V.C. Alves et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 92 (2009) 152156

wx; H 0

wx; 0 RS X cosh

wW; y RS yX cosh

w0; y RS yX cosh

10

As can be seen from Eqs. (9) and (10), the ight velocities are
not equal to zero, but a function of the channel depth. Introducing
the dimensionless variables dened through Eqs. (11)(13),

x
H
y
y
H

x

11
12

w x ; y

wx; y
XRB

13

the problem becomes,

o2 w o2 w 1 op H2
2
k constant
ox2
oy
l oz XRB

14

w x ; 1 0

15

w x ; 0 1  j cosh

16

w c; y 1 jy  1 cosh

17

w 0; y 1 jy  1 cosh

18

where c is the screw aspect ratio, j is the screw curvature ratio and
s is the screw helix ratio.
Introducing the following change of variables

Cx ; y w x ; y  1 jy  1 cosh

19

Eqs. (14)(18) become,

2

3. Problem solution
The proposed boundary value problem Eqs. (20)(24) can be
solved via a number of analytical and numerical techniques. Since
the problem is linear, one immediate possibility is to use the superposition principle (Poulikakos, 1994) coupled with standard analytical methods, such as the separation of variables or the Fourier
method employed by Li and Hsieh (1996). Integral transforms,
such as the nite Fourier transform (Deen, 1998) and the generalized integral transform technique (GITT) described by zisik
(1992) and Cotta (1993) are more exible with respect to the nature (and the number) of the non-homogeneities in the partial differential equation and boundary conditions. Numerical methods,
such as the nite volume (Versteeg and Malalasekera, 1995), nite
difference (Anderson et al., 1984) and nite element (Hughes,
2000), have the advantage of handling complex geometries and
could be reasonably easily implemented to solve the present problem. However, these methods may result in a higher computational
cost.
In order to apply the GITT (zisik, 1992; Cotta, 1993), the rst
step is to select an eigenvalue problem that is in some way related
to the original problem. It is important that an appropriate eigenvalue problem preferably amenable to analytical solution is
chosen. If the eigenvalue problem turns out to be impossible analytically, the whole problem solution becomes dependent on a
numerical procedure, or on a table of eigenvalues. Therefore, for
solving Eqs. (20)(24), the homogeneous x* direction is selected
and the auxiliary Fourier problem is proposed,

o2 ux
aux 0
ox2

25

with the following boundary conditions,

u0 0
uc 0

26
27

o C o C

k
ox2 oy2

20

Cx ; 1  cosh

21

ui x sinai x

Cx ; 0 0

22

Multiplying Eq. (20) by the eigenfunction ui(x*) and integrating

in the x* direction yields,

Cc; y 0

23

The solution of this eigenvalue problem is given by,

C0; y 0

24

ui x

28

o2 C 
dx
ox2

ui x

o2 C 
dx
oy2

Z
0

ui x kdx

29

The integral transform and the inversion formula, as stated by

zisik (1992), can be dened as,

o2 C 
dx
2
oy
0
1
X
2ui x  
Cx ; y
Ci y
 i y
C

ui x
0

30
31

After some algebraic manipulation, Eq. (29) can be written as

i
o Ci y
 i y k 1  1 
 a2i C
2
oy
ai
2

VS = RS

VB = 0

with the following boundary conditions,

 i 1  cosh
C

x
z
y

Fig. 2. Boundary conditions for the single screw problem.

32

 i 0 0
C

1  1i 

ai

33
34

The complete solution of the down channel velocity in the single screw extruder problem is obtained solving Eq. (32) with the
boundary conditions Eqs. (33) and (34) followed by the application of the inversion formula, Eq. (31), to return to the original
variable,

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M.V.C. Alves et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 92 (2009) 152156

w x ; y 1 jy  1 cosh
"
y

y

 C 1 eai C 2 eai 

1
2X

Fig. 4 shows a comparison between the present solution and the

experimental data of Campbell et al. (1992). The solutions due to Li

sinai x

i1

#
k1  1i 

35

a3i

where,

cosha2i  keai  1
1  1i 
a3i eai  eai

36

cosha2i  keai  1
1  1i 
a3i eai  eai

37

The screw pump throughput can be obtained integrating Eq.

(35) over the channel cross section,
1
1
2X
Q   j  2c cosh
2
c i1
"
#
i
1  1 
k1  1i 
ai
ai

C 1 e  1  C 2 e  1 
2
2

ai

ai

Dimensionless Flow Rate, (Q*)

C1 
C2

Current Approach
Li and Hsieh (1996)
Rowell and Finlayson (1922, 1928)
Campbell et al. (1992)

1.8

38

1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
4

4. Comparison between the new solution and literature data

Current Approach
Li and Hsieh (1996)

9
7

Griffith (1962)

5
4
3

Choo et al. (1980)

2
1
0
-1
-2

-1

Dimensionless Pressure Gradient (k)

Fig. 3. Comparison between the present solution and that of Li and Hsieh (1996) for
the experimental conditions of Grifth (1962) (s = 3.63, j = 0.128, c = 21.29) and
Choo et al., 1980 (s = 6.33, j = 0.505, c = 5.72).

12

14

16

18

20

0.75

0.60

=4
=6
=8
= 10
= 12

0.45

0.30

0.15
0

8
6

Dimensionless Flow Rate, (Q*)

Dimensionless Flow Rate, (Q*)

10

10

Fig. 4. Comparison between the present solution and that of Li and Hsieh (1996)
and the experimental data of Campbell et al. (1992) (s = 0.732, j = 0.143, c = 3.08).

Dimensionless Flow Rate,( Q*)

There are three experimental works available in the literature to

validate the present solution of the single screw model. Two of
these (Grifth, 1962; Choo et al., 1980) have employed large aspect
ratio screws using corn syrup. The channel aspect ratios employed
in the works of Grifth and Choo et al. were 21.3 and 6.2, respectively. The model of Li and Hsieh (1996) has been validated with
these databases. The work due to Campbell et al. (1992) involved
an intermediate aspect ratio screw (W/H  3.1) in which a hydraulic oil (l = 0.16 Pa.s, q = 880 kg/m3) was pumped against a hydrostatic head of 0.010 m.
Fig. 3 shows a comparison between the present solution and the
model of Li and Hsieh (1996) for the conditions of the experiments
of Grifth (1962) and Choo et al. (1980). Li and Hsieh (1996) reported an excellent agreement between their model and the experimental data. As can be seen, there is also an excellent agreement
between the methodologies, indicating that the single algebraic
relationship introduced in the present work is suitable for predicting the down channel ow rate in channels with higher values of
aspect ratio.

Dimens ionless Pressure Gradient (k)* 104

Helix Ratio,

10

12

0.65

0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45

=4
=6
=8
= 10
= 12

0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0

Helix Ratio,

10

12

Fig. 5. Variation of the ow rate with s for various c (l 0:20Pa:s; op

30kPa=m).
ox
(a) j = 0.1. (b) j = 0.2.

Dimensionless Flow Rate, *(Q*)

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M.V.C. Alves et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 92 (2009) 152156

= 0.10
= 0.12
= 0.14
= 0.16
= 0.18
= 0.20

40
30
20

curvature screws because as the channel area increases (H increasing with a constant W) the inuence of the pressure gradient also
becomes more important. Although the theoretical improvement
in the screw throughput may be signicant under some conditions,
caution must be exercised when using the proposed analytical
solution. For low values of the curvature ratio, the shear rate
may increase dramatically and large deviations from real data
may appear, especially if the uid is non-Newtonian. Another
important observation when considering real applications is the
presence of a leakage ow between the screw ights and the barrel, which has been neglected in the analytical solutions, but could
modify signicantly the screw behavior.

10
0
-10

6. Conclusions

-20
0

10

12

Helix Ratio,
Fig. 6. Variation of the ow rate with s for various j using the maximum c.
30kPa=m, e 5 mm).
(l = 0.20[Pa.s], op
ox

and Hsieh (1996) and Rowell and Finlayson (1922, 1928) are also
shown. The main reason for the discrepancy is the fact that as
the screw aspect ratio decreases toward values approaching unity,
the inuence of the screw ights becomes as important as that of
the screw barrel and core. Therefore they must be taken into account in the boundary conditions and not only as the resulting output of the moving ights alone as suggested by Li and Hsieh (1996).
5. Application of the model
Fig. 5a and b shows the dependence of the ow rate on the helix
ratio, s, and the channel aspect ratio, c. As can be seen, for a constant c, an increase in s diminishes the ow throughput. This is
in line with what has been described in previous works carried
out for large values of aspect ratio (Li and Hsieh, 1996). The increase of the aspect ratio always increases the output of the screw,
especially for low helix ratios. This is an indication that there could
be a point of maximum in the screw ow rate as a function of the
aspect and helix ratios. The ow rate decreases with increasing
screw helix ratio because, as the channel helix angle increases,
the pressure gradient becomes increasingly important and, at a
certain point, it becomes the dominant term causing the screw
pump to fail.
By using the highest aspect ratio possible for a given helix ratio,
one is able to achieve a greater ow throughput. The maximum aspect ratio for a given helix ratio can be derived from the geometrical screw relationships, and is given by

cmax

j cosh

e
RB


39

In Fig. 6, the expression for cmax is used in the model resulting in

a different behavior for the screw output. The points of maximum
for each value of the screw curvature indicate the most appropriate
dimensions to be used in design. The negative values are due to the
fact that as the channel helix ratio gets larger, the inuence of
the pressure gradient will rise and the outow diminishes until
the screw pump fail. This behavior is more pronounced for high

In this paper, a complete analytical solution of a simplied

model of a single screw extruder was solved using the GITT. The
current solution is easier to use than existing analytical solutions,
as only one single algebraic relationship is needed to calculate
the screw throughput for any value of the screw channel aspect ratio. The solution has been validated with that of Li and Hsieh
(1996) and with experimental data available in the open literature
for single screw extruders with intermediate values of channel aspect ratio. The model was used to obtain the ow characteristics at
geometrical conditions of maximum aspect ratio, which can be employed in design of high performance geometries to obtain higher
ow rates for a given screw speed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank CNPq CAPES and Embraco for
the nancial support to the development of this work.
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