Every material opens a new possibility for extrusion
From commodity resins to advanced materials, chemical reactions, recycling, and food, Technovel extruders have long been part of how industry mixes, reacts, and forms. This page introduces our track record in each field.
Compounding melt-kneads resins with fillers and additives to create functional materials of higher value. The core of the process is dispersive mixing, which breaks up agglomerates, and distributive mixing, which spreads them evenly through the melt.
super engineering plastics
We handle a wide range of materials, from commodity resins to engineering plastics, super engineering plastics, and specialty polymers (PE/PP, PA/PBT/PC, PEEK/PPS/LCP, and others).
(calcium carbonate / talc / glass fiber)
The foundation of compounding: designing stiffness and dimensional stability with mineral fillers. Glass fibers in particular break during kneading and lose aspect ratio, and breakage increases with screw speed, so preserving fiber length takes deliberate design.
The higher the filler loading, the more heat shear generates, so the shear needed for dispersion and the degradation caused by shear heating become a trade-off. We build processes that apply shear while holding temperature down, through both machine configuration and operating conditions.
With nano-carbons, the hierarchical structure of the agglomerates is what matters. Too much shear breaks CNTs and destroys the conductive network. Quality depends on dispersion control that unravels without cutting.
Blending immiscible resins to obtain properties no single resin can provide. The key is phase morphology: the size and shape of the dispersed phase (sea-island or co-continuous) are controlled mechanically through shear and elongational flow.
Intermediate materials in which pigments and additives are dispersed at high concentration. Uniform dispersion at high loading and stable, reproducible particle size are essential, along with contamination control for small-lot, multi-grade production and color changes.
Heat-sensitive, fibrous, hydrophilic: naturally derived materials are among the hardest to process. By combining mild kneading with devolatilization and temperature control, the extruder bridges the gap between these raw materials and practical use.
Cellulose fiber (CF)
The key is kneading that unravels nanofiber agglomerates without cutting the fibers too short. Hydrophilic cellulose and hydrophobic resins are immiscible, so interface modification and removal of water have to succeed at the same time.
Technovel extruders are used in processes that fibrillate pulp while melt-kneading it with resin. Instead of starting from pre-fibrillated CNF, this method unravels the pulp into nano-scale dispersion inside the extruder itself, and is regarded as a key route to producing CNF composites at practical cost. We have accumulated extensive experience in this field from the R&D stage onward, supporting customers from formulation studies on lab machines through scale-up to production machines.
rice husks / rice bran
Natural powders that decompose easily are compounded at high loadings using low temperatures and short residence times. Insufficient devolatilization leads to steam-driven foaming and voids, while excess heat causes discoloration and decomposition, so managing thermal history is central to quality.
biodegradable resins
Polyesters such as PLA hydrolyze readily in the melt, and even trace moisture lowers molecular weight and properties. Pre-drying, residence-time control, and vacuum venting where needed are the keys to retaining properties. The pellets are also relatively hard, so stable feeding takes its own know-how.
Twin- and multi-screw extruders control kneading, residence time, and devolatilization at once, which lets them serve as continuous reactors. For chemistry, this brings a major advantage: continuous processing without solvents.
(polymerization / polymer modification)
Polymerization, grafting, and functionalization proceed in the melt. Quality depends strongly on the residence time distribution (RTD), which is designed through screw geometry, screw speed, and feed rate.
Technovel has built twin-screw reactive extruders with barrels as long as L/D = 150, far beyond conventional machines. We also have reactive-extrusion experience with multi-screw extruders (4-screw and 8-screw), which combine long residence times with high devolatilization performance. Depending on the reaction and on how much residence and devolatilization it requires, we propose the machine configuration best suited to it. This range of machines, covering even slow reactions, is one of our strengths.
(elastomers / TPV)
Above the melting temperature of the resin, the rubber phase is crosslinked under shear and dispersed. The order of crosslinker addition and the balance between shear and crosslinking rate are critical.
The equilibrium is shifted continuously to synthesize copolymers and modified polymers. Removing by-products by devolatilization is what drives the reaction forward, so multi-stage vent design pays off.
Residual monomers and solvents are removed continuously under deep vacuum with multi-stage vents.
Devolatilization relies on deep vacuum, multi-stage vents, and a large gas-liquid interface with constant surface renewal to bring residual content down.
solvent-free, continuous green synthesis
Extruder applications now reach beyond polymer compounding into the synthesis of molecules themselves. A reaction field where kneading, residence, and temperature are all under control makes mechanochemistry, the assembly of molecules without solvents, run as a continuous process.
(solvent-free, continuous)
An emerging green-chemistry field that uses the extruder as a continuous reactor for small-molecule synthesis. Condensation reactions proceed without solvents, and in many cases the product is obtained at analytical purity without further purification. It turns solvent-heavy batch chemistry into a continuous, scalable process.
Reactions driven not by dissolution but by shear and mechanical energy. Continuous twin-screw processing breaks through the scale limits of ball mills. Solvent-free continuous synthesis cuts solvent use and waste substantially.
Recovered materials are raw materials of unknown history, carrying contamination, thermal degradation, compositional variation, and odor. Devolatilization and filtration bring them up to practical grades. Few fields face stronger demand from society today, as the circular economy moves from concept to practice.
Recovered resins are remelted and repelletized. Thermal-history management to limit degradation, devolatilization of volatiles and odor, and filtration of foreign matter decide the quality of the recyclate.
Reaction processes such as depolymerization return resins to their monomers. The extruder works as a continuous reactor and devolatilizer that recovers the volatiles, a form of reactive extrusion. The essential question is how efficiently shear energy can be delivered into the material.
Devulcanization and regeneration of crosslinked rubber. Selectively cutting the crosslink network with shear and heat is difficult to control. For recovering the properties of reclaimed rubber, operating conditions and machine configuration are the deciding factors.
Food extrusion applies heat, shear, moisture, and pressure at the same time. It is a cooking process that rebuilds the structure of the ingredient itself, turning plant proteins into fibrous, meat-like textures.
(HMMA)
In high-moisture meat analogues, proteins denature under high temperature and shear, plasticize, and then re-crosslink in the laminar flow of a cooling die, forming a fibrous structure.
(TVP)
Chewiness is designed through moisture content and screw configuration. Texture is decided by the process, not only the recipe, and that is part of what makes extrusion rewarding.
Off-spec products and by-products are heat-sterilized, formed, and dried. An application drawing attention for food-loss reduction and feed processing.
Because these components enter the human body, the requirements for dimensional accuracy and traceability are severe. Stable output at micron order and designs that allow no contamination define this precision domain of extrusion.
Complex structures achieved through precise control of very small outputs. Delicate forming that determines how the device behaves inside the body.
Inner and outer diameters must be held to strict limits. Low-pulsation plasticization and stable take-off achieve demanding dimensional tolerances.
(dialysis / separation membranes)
Hollow fibers are spun with high uniformity. Pore structures controlled through phase separation determine separation performance, in a field directly connected to membrane engineering.
The step that finishes a compounded material into product shape in one continuous run. Dimensional accuracy and surface quality are determined by the stability of the output and the design of the flow inside the die. Running compounding and forming on a single machine, without interruption, is a strength unique to extrusion.
Molten resin is spread thin and formed continuously. Flow design inside the T-die and surge-free plasticization determine thickness accuracy.
Inner and outer diameters and wall-thickness uniformity are controlled together. Flow balance in the die and uniform cooling and sizing decide dimensional accuracy.
Resin is coated concentrically over a conductor. High-speed, high-precision crosshead die control and suppression of eccentricity protect the electrical properties.
Resin is drawn into fibers through a fine spinneret.
Technovel has a strategic partnership with Fibre Extrusion Technology (FET) of the UK, a specialist manufacturer of fiber spinning equipment, and offers FET’s lab- to pilot-scale melt spinning solutions. From monofilament and multifilament to bicomponent spinning and nonwovens, FET has an extensive record in medical and biomaterial applications (absorbable sutures, implants, and more) and high-performance fibers. Together, we can support development all the way from compounding to fiber formation.
See also: Products ／ Strategic partners