ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the reader to various aspects of mathematical modelling and demonstrates the extreme complication of the flow patterns within the extrusion process due to minute changes in ingredient composition. Extrusion applications with various screw designs and configurations are seen in the area of briquetting, sausage manufacturing, rubber manufacturing, plastics, soaps, detergents, and in food areas such as snacks, breakfast cereals, cheese, and others. J. M. Harper states that dry and semimoist pet foods are the largest product group manufactured by extrusion cooking and far exceed the quantity of extruded human food products. As demand increases for various cooking ranges requiring better control and operating flexibility, the twin screw extruder becomes a major player in fulfilling these demands. Probably the most highly ignored aspect of the twin screw extruder is its feeding method. Specific mechanical energy can easily be calculated automatically by the microprocessor controller by dividing the corrected power usage into the output rate of the extruder.
