Augers are used in industrial machinery to move materials through a pipe. They are commonly used in the plastics and food manufacturing industries to mix and extrude products. Augers can also be used to blend raw materials into a final product with precise amounts dispensed by each auger.
An auger is a component of some types of industrial machinery designed to move or feed materials through a pipe. Typically, an auger is a metal cylinder with an inclined plane wrapped around its exterior, resembling a long screw or auger. The auger is then placed in a pipe into which various materials flow from a hopper or chute. As material from the hopper flows into the pipe, the auger rotates, pushing the material down the length of the pipe to where it will be used. Augers are commonly used in the plastics and food manufacturing industries to move, mix and extrude product.
In the plastics industry, augers are the heart of extruders used in blow molding, injection molding, sheet extrusion and profile extrusion. In these cases, the tube surrounding the screw is heated to the point where the plastic resin melts. As the screw moves the material along the tube, called a barrel, the material is melted and mixed together. At some point along the screw, the pitch of the threads changes, leaving less room for material flow and causing pressure to build up in the material. Once the material reaches the end of the screw, it is either extruded through a mold, forming the molten plastic resin into the desired shape or profile, or into a mold where it is cooled into the desired shape.
In the food industry, augers are used essentially as in the plastics industry. The main difference is that instead of melting the material, the food is cooked as it passes along the auger and is eventually formed into the desired shape. Instead of applying direct heat, some types of food processing equipment use the auger to build pressure, which generates the heat needed to cook the food item.
Augers are not only useful for extruding products. They are also frequently used in many industries to blend various raw materials into a final product. In this type of application, a number of augers will be collected in an array where each auger feeds a separate ingredient into a hopper, bin or other container. Since each auger feeds material into the container at a specific rate, very precise and different amounts of material can be dispensed as desired. For example, if three identical screws are arranged and one screw turns at 5 rpm, the next at 20 rpm, and the final screw at 25 rpm, the final composite will consist of 10% of the first material , 40% of the second and 50% of the third.
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