Pilot of BIVIS extrusion

Fibres, MFC, molecules

From lignocellulosic raw materials:

To produce fibres or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) at high consistency
To elaborate new materials by reactive extrusion
To extract biosourced molecules of interest

The little story of the pilot

In the 1990s, CTP, in collaboration with Clextral, developed a process for producing paper fibres from wood and annual plants based on the technology of twin-screw extrusion. This technology has been developed at industrial scale with more than 40 production units in the world.
After a period less attactive for this technology, the bivis extrusion is gaining again interest with the development of biorefinery and MFC production. Therefore, CTP has decided to re-invest in a pilot machine to develop new applications.
With the financial support of AuRA region in the frame of the MaLics platform, a twin-screw extruder with co-rotative and inter-meshing screws has been installed in Septembre 2019.

Characteristics

Evolum™ 32 bivis extruder (Clextral)

Flow: 5 to 20 kg/h in equivalent dry matter content
Screw elements diameter: 32 mm
Total length of the barrel: 1280 mm
Motor power; 50 kW
Rotation speed: 300-1200 rpm
Temperature regulation of the barrel: 30 to 300°C

Extrusion peripheral tools

Volumetric dosing system to feed the machine in raw materials with two sets of double feeding screws (chips and fibres).
Pump with a flow of maxi 20 l/h to introduce liquids. It can be connected to each module of the extruder.

The barrel

The barrel with pneumatic opening is composed of 10 modules constituted of 1 double feeding module and 8 working modules closed (8 available) or filtrating (3 available) produced in HIP R100 anti-corrosion alloy.
Each closed module has its own thermic regulation system and two lateral openings for injecting liquids or gas.

The screws

The screw profile is composed of screw elements (HIP R99 alloy) with 1 or 2 conjugated filets installed on two splined shafts. The configuration with the different screw profiles can be adapted to the raw material to treat.
The diversity of screw elements (form, length, mono-filet, bi-filet) and disks (mono-lobe or bi-lobe) allows optimising the quality of the targeted product and of the extruder flow.

Facility acquired in the frame of the MaLics platform with the support of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region

Also to be seen

Consultancy Diagnosis

Centre of Excellence

Biobased Materials DIVISION

Laboratories

Laboratory for Physical Properties Testing

Platforms

CTP'S Projects

Pronami