| Abstract: | The time for a PVC resin to dry blend or to become a free flowing mix, when blended with a plasticizer in an elevated processing mode, is a common concern for manufacturers of flexible PVC products. The limiting factor in some processes is the dry blending cycle time. Longer dry blending times increase manpower and energy cost per mixer batch. Each flexible PVC compounder has some type of quality control test he uses to assess a resin's dry-up properties. This paper examines the relationship of resin particles and plasticizer during dry-up testing of intermediate to high molecular weight PVC resins. Through this examination, a better understanding of the factors that control dry-up times was achieved. Also included is a comparison of quality control dry-up times and mix cycle times in production size mixers. |
