A Lecture on

Extrusion Processing and Its

Applications
Delivered By

Mohammad Azam
Department of PHP & FE,
College of Agricultural Engineering,
JNKVV, Jabalpur

INTRODUCTION
During the recent
years quite a number
of technologies in
food processing have
been emerged and
made an impact on
the availability and
variety
of
food
products.

INTRODUCTION
Food extrusion is one
of
these
latest
multidimensional food
processing techniques.
Great possibilities are
offered
in
food
processing field by the
use
of
extrusion
technology to modify
physicochemical
properties of food
components.

INTRODUCTION
Some of the latest trends in food processing and
consumption mentioned by Sloan (2005) are healthy
food and sense appeal.
Right after fresh, crunch was the most frequent menu
marketing claim on fine-dining menus last year
(Archibald 2006).
Third trend which she mentioned is snacking and
sharing, whether at home or away from home, the
snack business in on fire.

INTRODUCTION
A new late night eating occasion, light meals for
seniors, women, teenage, after school get together, and
a need to stay satiated until dinner have made snacks
and mini meals the hottest opportunity in the restaurant
world today (Sloan 2006).

INTRODUCTION
The
food
extruder is a
pump, a heat
exchanger and
continuous high
pressure-high
temperature
reactor,
all
combined in one
piece
of
equipment.

INTRODUCTION
Extrusion cooking may be defined as a thermo-mechanical
process in which heat transfer, mass transfer, pressure
changes and shear are combined to produce effects such as
cooking, sterilization, drying, melting, cooling, texturizing,
conveying, puffing, mixing, kneading, conching (chocolate),
freezing, forming etc.
Literally, extrusion (from the Latin word extrudere) means
the action of pushing out. In engineering, it describes an
operation of forcing a material out of a narrow gap.

History of Extrusion
The simple design of a
screw within a barrel
chamber has been initially
credited to Archimedes of
Syracuse,
a
Greek
mathematician
and
physicist. His design of a
wooden apparatus devised
to move water from a
lower level to higher level
with a turn of a screw
within a round chamber.

History of Extrusion
This simple design later became the
cornerstone of many different industries
including material sciences such as
metal fabrication, ceramics, concrete,
plastics and nonplastic polymers and
most recently, the food and feed
industries.
Joseph Bramah obtained the first
extrusion patent in 1797 for making
a
lead pipe by having a dummy block
placed in a ram type machine and forced
out of a die to form a continuous profile.

Joseph Bramah (13

Apr 1748 9 Dec
1814), born Yorkshire,
England
was
an inventor
and locksmith. He is
best known for having
invented the hydraulic
press.

History of Extrusion
Todays multipurpose screw extruders are used for
heat transfer via conductive and conversion energy, to
many new designs that accommodate more varieties of
raw materials and innovative applications in new
concept in the field of food processing.

Stages in the Development of Food Extrusion

Decade Equipment

Commercial Uses

Prior to Forming , non thermal extruder

1950
(e.g. Pasta press)

Pasta

1950

Single-screw cooking extruder

Dry animal feed

1960

Single-screw cooking extruder

Texturized vegetal protein (TVP),

ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals, puffed
snacks, pellets, dry pet food

1970

Twin-screw cooking extruder

Moist pet food, upgrading of raw

materials

1980

Twin-screw cooking extruder

Flat bread, croutons, confectionary,

chocolate

1990

Twin-screw with long cooling

dye

Moist texturized proteins

2000

Refrigerated (ultra-cold) extruder Ice cream, frozen bars

Advantages of Extrusion Cooking

Extrusion cooking is a one-step process. A
number of operations are simultaneously carried
out in one piece of equipment. This does not
exclude the need for additional operations
upstream and downstream of extrusion. These
operations include: preparation (conditioning,
formulation, modification, cleaning etc.) before
extrusion and various finishing operations
applied to the extrudate after extrusion (drying,
frying, addition of flavouring ingredients etc.)

Advantages of Extrusion Cooking

Extrusion is a continuous process.
Extrusion requires little labour.
For its output, the extruder is a relatively
compact machine and requires little floorspace.
Cooking extrusion is a genuine
temperature-short time process.

high

Retention time in the extruder is relatively

short.

Advantages of Extrusion Cooking

The extruder is versatile. The same equipment
with slight modifications may be used for
achieving different objectives or for processing
many different products.
The energy expenditure of cooking extrusion
is usually lower than that of alternative
processes, because the major part of the energy
(heat or mechanical work) is delivered to the
product directly and not through an
intermediary medium.

Advantages of Extrusion Cooking

This process increases shelf-life from a few
weeks to 9-12 months and can be consumed in
a convenient, ready-to-eat form by the final
consumer.

Types of Extruders
In general, extruders are divided into two major
categories:
Single screw extruder
Twin screw extruder
Single screw extruder
The equipment consists of a cylindrical screw that
rotates in a grooved cylindrical barrel, made from
hard alloys or hardened stainless steel to withstand
the frictional wear.

Single screw extruder

Single-screw extruders are usually characterized by

their length to diameter (L/D) ratio and their
compression ratio.
The length to diameter ratio of the barrel is between
2:1 and 25:1 (Hauck, 1993).
The compression ratio, which is the ratio of the
maximum channel depth to the minimum channel
depth.
The most commonly used compression ratio is 3:1.

Single screw extruder

Typical screw speeds are 150-600 rpm, depending on
the application.
Die pressure vary from around 200010 3 Pa for low
viscosity products to 1700010 3 Pa for expanded
snack foods (Heldman and Hartel, 1997).
In extrusion cooking, much of the energy from the
extruder motor is lost as friction and rapidly heats the
food (between 50 and 60% of total energy input
(Harper, 1987).

Single screw extruder

Single-screw extruders have lower capital and operating
costs and require less skill to operate and maintain than
twin-screw machines do.
Categories of single-screw extruders include (Harper,
1981):
Cold forming (Pasta-type) extruder : Deep flight, smooth
barrel, low shear speed.
Little or no cooking extruders : Used for pasta, pastry
dough, cookies, egg-rolls, ravioli, processed meat and
certain candy.

Single screw extruder

High-pressure forming extruder : Grooved barrels to

prevent a slip at the wall and greater compression in
the screw design. Used for pre-gelatinize cereal and
fried snack foods.

Low-Shear cooking extruders : Moderates shear

machines with high compression machines and
grooved barrels to enhance mixing. Soft-moist foods
and meat like snacks such as simulated jerky.

Collet extruders : High shear machines with groovedbarrels and screw with multiple shallow flights. Used
for puffed snacks and expanded curls or collets.

Twin-screw extruder
Twin screw consists of two parallel
screws in a barrel with a figure 8 cross
section.
Screw length to diameter ratios are
between 10:1 and 25:1 (Harper, 1987).
One of the main advantages of twinscrew extruders is the greater flexibility
of operation that is possible by changing
the degree of intermeshing of the
screws, the number of flights or the
angle of pitch of the screw.

Fig 3: Screws in TSW

Twin-screw extruder
Twin screw machines handle oily, sticky or very
wet materials, or other products that slip in a
single screw.
The main limitations of twin-screw extruders are
the relatively high capital and maintenance cost
(up to twice the cost of single-screw equipment)
and the greater constraints on operating ranges
(Harper, 1987).

Twin-screw extruder
Four types of twin-screw extruders
are possible:
Non-intermeshed, co-rotating
Non-intermeshed, counter rotating
Intermeshed, co-rotating
Intermeshed, counter rotating

Nomenclature of Extruder Parts

For better understanding of extruder designs, we need to establish
a basic nomenclature for the extruder parts.

Fig : Schematic diagram of the extruded screw

Barrel opening (Db): This dimension is usually referred to as a

barrel opening in which the screw rotates. The actual screw
diameter, Ds, is calculated using equation (1)
Ds = Db 2d

(1)

 Flight height (H): H is the distance between the diameter

height of the flight and the diameter of the root of the screw.
Root diameter (Dr): The diameter of the root of the screw on
which the flights are built is the base of the shaft that carries
the rotational torque.
Dr = Db (2H+2d)
(2)
Screw clearance (2d): Screw clearance is the difference
between the barrel opening and diameter of the screw.
2d = Db - Ds
(3)

 Lead (): Lead or pitch is the axial distance between the leading
edge of the flight at the outside diameter and the leading edge of
the same flight in front.
Helix angle (): The helix angle is defined as the angle of the
flight with respect to the normal plane of the screw axis.
= tan-1 /3.142 Ds
(4)
Axial channel width (W): The channel width is measured from one side
of the flight to the next within the channel perpendicular to the angle of
flight.
W = B cos
(5)
where B is the axial distance between the flights.

 Axial flight width (b): b is the width of the screw flight in

the axial direction.
b=B
(6)
Flight width (e): e is the width of the screw flight measured
perpendicular to the face of the flight.
Channel length (Z): Z is the length of the screw channel in the Z
direction, which can be one full turn of the screw helix.

Components of Extruder
1. Engine
2. Feeder
3. Cooling Jacket
4. Thermocouple
5. Screw
6. Barrel
7. Heating Jacket
8. Die Head
9. Die
10.Cutter
I. Transport section
II. Compression section
III.Melting and
plasticization section

Fig : A single screw extruder

Structure of Extruder
A hollow cylindrical enclosure, called the barrel. The
barrel can be smooth or grooved. Conical barrels are
not common in food extruder.
A sturdy Archimedean screw, with a thick root and
shallow flights, turning inside the barrel. The flights
of the rotating inside the barrel.
The flights of the rotating screw propel the material
along a helicoidal channel (flow channel) formed
between the screw root and the barrel.

Structure of Extruder
The width of the flow channel, resulting from the screw pitch,
is considerably larger than its thickness.
The gap between the screw tip and the barrel surface is made
as narrow as possible.
A restricted passage element, known as the die at the exit end
of the extruder. The functions of the die are to serve as
pressure release valve and to impart to the extrudate the
desired shape, determined by the cross-section of the aperture.

Structure of Extruder
The die is sometimes preceded by a perforated plate
(breaker plate) which helps distribute the compressed
material evenly across the die.
A device for cutting the extrudate emerging from the
die. In its simplest form this consists of a rotating
knife.
Different kinds of devices for heating or cooling the
barrel (steam or water jackets, electrical resistance
heaters, induction heaters etc.).

Structure of Extruder
These elements, external to the barrel, are usually
divided into individual segments, in order to impose
different temperature conditions at different sections
of the extruder.
A hopper for gravity feeding and an auger for positive
feeding.
Ports for the injection of steam, water and other fluids
as needed. Ports for pressure release.

Structure of Extruder
Measurement instruments (feed rate, temperature,
pressure) and controls.
A drive, usually with speed variation capability and
torque control.

Operation Process of Extruder

The materials processed in cooker-extruders are
particulate moist solids or high viscosity dough-like
fluids. As the screw rotates, the flights drag the
material towards the exit.
The flow channel, described above, is delimited by
two solid surfaces, namely, the screw and the barrel.
Grooving in barrel helps reduce slippage at the barrel
surface.
Screw configuration is such that the flow area along
the flow channel is progressively reduced.

Operation Process of Extruder

Consequently, the material is progressively
compressed as it moves down the barrel.
Reduction of the flow area can be achieved by
several types of screw configuration.
The most common are the progressively
decreasing screw pitch and the progressively
increasing root (core) diameter.

Operation Process of Extruder

The single-screw extruder is divided into three
cross sections:
Feed section : the main function of this section is
to act as a screw conveyor, transporting the
material from the feed entrance to the subsequent
sections. Almost no compression or modification of
the mass occurs in this section.
Transition section : this is the section where the
material is compressed and heated.

Operation Process of Extruder

Metering section : this is the section where

most of the objectives of the extrusion process
(melting, texturization, kneading, chemical
reactions etc.) occur through shear and
mixing.

Operation Process of Extruder

Through the friction, most of the power used for
turning the screw shaft is dissipated into the material
as heat. Thus, a portion of the heat delivered to the
product is generated in situ.
Additional heat is transferred from the externally
heated barrel surface and supplied by direct injection
of live steam or electric heater.
In single-screw extruders, the internally generated
heat constitutes the major part of the energy input.
Consequently, heating in a cooking extruder is
extremely rapid.

Operation Process of Extruder

Because of the high pressure in the extruder, the
moist material can be heated to temperatures well
above 100oC (sometimes up to 180-200oC).
When the pressure is suddenly released at the exit
from the die, some of the water in the product is
flash evaporated and as a result, the product is
puffed.
The degree of puffing can be controlled by releasing
some of pressure and cooling the mass at the last
section of the extruder, before the die.

Functions of Extruder
Agglomerating ingredients Human food, pet food,
aquatic and livestock feed ingredients can be compacted and
agglomerated into discrete pieces in an extruder process

Degassing of ingredients - Snack food, feed and pet food

ingredients that contain gas pockets can be degassed by
extrusion processing.

Dehydration During normal extrusion processing of feed

or pet food moisture loss of 4-7% can occur depending upon
the initial moisture content.

Functions of Extruder
Enzyme in-activation By using extruders different
harmful enzymes present in the ingredients can be inactivated, like lipase enzyme in rice bran.
Expansion, puffing Snack food, pet food or
aquaculture feed density (i.e. floating and shrinking) can
controlled by extruder operation conditions and
configuration.
Grinding Ingredients can be ground to some extent in
the extruder barrel during processing of snack food, pet
food and livestock feed.

Functions of Extruder
Homogenization An extruder can homogenize by
restructuring unattractive ingredients into more
acceptable forms during processing of human food, pet
food, aquatic and livestock feed.
Mixing: A variety of screws are available for all kind
of extruders which can cause the desired amount of
mixing action in the extruder barrel during extrusion
processing.
Pasteurization and sterilization: Ingredients can be
pasteurized or sterilized using extrusion technology
during processing of human and pet food.

Functions of Extruder
Protein denaturation: Animal and plant protein can be
denatured by extrusion cooking to make it more
digestible for human and animals. Protein denaturation is
the primary thermal effect. Under the influence of high
temperature and moisture, native proteins lose their
structure (globular, miscellar etc.), unfold, absorb water
and melt. Just as starch gelatinization, in extrusion
cooking, protein denaturation occurs at lower moisture
content, resulting in a high viscosity melt. In the case of
soy protein, it has been shown that the protein in the
extrudates is completely denatured, provided that
extrusion temperature was above 130oC.

Functions of Extruder
Shaping products: A special configuration within the
extruder barrel can create the desired shearing action
for a particular human and pet food, aquatic and
livestock feed.
Shearing: A special configuration within the extruder
barrel can create the desired shearing action for
particular food and pet feed.
Starch cooking (gelatinization): Extrusion cooking
improves starch gelatinization from all sources, i.e.
tuber or cereal during the processing of food and feed.

Functions of Extruder
Starch cooking (gelatinization): Extrusion cooking
improves starch gelatinization from all sources, i.e. tuber
or cereal during the processing of food and feed.
Gelatinization (also known as pasting) is the process
whereby the starch granules swell and eventually
disappear, the crystalline regions are progressively
melted and starch molecules are unfolded and hydrated,
resulting in the formation of a continuous viscous paste.
Gelatinization occurs when a suspension of starch in
water is heated. The temperature of gelatinization
depends on the water content. In extrusion cooking,
gelatinization can be achieved at relatively low moisture
levels.

Functions of Extruder
Starch cooking (gelatinization): The purpose of
gelatinization in starchy food and cereals is primarily
to improve their digestibility, as gelatinized starch is
more easily hydrolyzed by amylolytic enzymes.
Another objective of starch gelatinization in extrusion
cooking is to create the thermoplastic mass that can
assume a stable porous structure upon puffing. The
effect of extrusion cooking on starch does not stop at
gelatinization, but can cause partial de-polymerizing
(dextrinization) of the starch molecules.

Functions of Extruder
Texture alteration: The physical and chemical texture can
be altered in the extrusion system during processing of
food, pet food, aquatic and livestock feed.
Thermal cooking: The desired cooking effect can be
achieved in the extruder during processing of human
food, pet food, aquatic and livestock feed.
Utilizing: Different ingredient lines can be combined
into one product to give special characteristics by using
an extruder for pet food, aquatic and livestock feed.

Food Applications of Extrusion

Forming extrusion of pasta

Food Applications of Extrusion

Expanded snacks

Food Applications of Extrusion

Ready-to-eat cereals

Food Applications of Extrusion

Pellets

Brabender Single Screw Extruder

Technical Specification of Brabender Extruder

Parameter

Specification

Design

Table-top unit

Barrel diameter

19 mm

Barrel length

25 D

Barrel material

Nitrite steel

Drive power

1.5 kW

Max. torque

150 Nm

Speed range

1 150 per min, digital speed sensor

Temperature working
range

40-450oC

Dimensions (LWH)

Approx, 850680800 mm (without supporting

frame)
Approx, 8506801350 mm (with supporting frame)

Weight

Approx, 106 kg (approx 120 kg with supporting

frame)

Salient Features of Brabender Extruder

The brabender laboratory extruder (model Brabender
D47055 DUISBURG) is placed in Post Harvest
Engineering Laboratory.
The extruder consisted of grooved barrel covered heating
and cooling elements.
The constructional elements of the extruder are motor and
gear unit, coupling, loading unit, extruder barrel with
screw and control cabinet.
The extruder has three zones and one die zone.
The temperature of all zones are controlled by a
temperature controller, the maximum temperature of each
zone is 450oC

Salient Features of Brabender Extruder

The feeding zone of extruder is water cooled and
compression and metering zones are air cooled.
A round die head was fixed at the end of the
barrel.
The feed screw feeding device was mounted
above the feed opening.
Electronics equipments and sensors are available
for measuring melt pressure and melt
temperature with it the extruder and die head.

Extruder Can Meet the Following

Food Trends

References

HAUCK, B. W. (1993) Choosing an extruder. In: A. Turner (ed.) Food

Technology International Europe. Sterling Publications International, London, pp.
8182.
HARPER, J. M. (1987) High-temperature short-time extrusion cooking. In: A.
Turner (ed.) Food Technology International Europe. Sterling Publications
International, London, pp. 5155..