Monitoring of extrusion processes by near-IR spectroscopy

A device for monitoring extrusion processes, esp. the extrusion of plastic-bonded propellants and explosives, was developed. The system itself is a transmission measuring system consisting of a probe with integrated fiber-optical sensors and a near-IR spectrometer for in-line measurements. First measurements on pure polymer extrusion processes demonstrate the applicability of the system. Use of multivariate data anal. allowed a first est. on the accuracy of the developed method. Deviation between predicted and measured polymer compn. of a PE/PP blend was <2 per cent.