Rudolf Erdmenger (* September 2, 1911 in Augsburg;[1] † 1991) was a German mechanical engineer and process engineer and the main inventor of the co-rotating twin screw extruder.
Life
editRudolf Erdmenger studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich, obtaining the degree of Dipl.-Ing in 1935. His first employment was at Humboldt-Deutzmotoren AG. Two years later, he changed to Maschinenfabrik Paul Leistritz in Nürnberg, where he worked on the development of screw pumps. In 1939, he moved to the Wolfen plant of I.G. Farben. There, together with Werner Meskat, he developed the co-rotating twin screw extruder, submitting the basic patent in 1944.[2] At the end of the Second World War, Erdmenger and Meskat escaped from the approaching Red Army and joined Bayer AG in 1948, where Erdmenger founded the high viscosity technology group which he led until his retirement in 1976.[3]
Further technical developments
editThe co-rotating twin screw extruder was licensed in 1957 to Werner & Pfleiderer, which further developed the machine. This machine type is now the foundation for plastics compounding.[4][5] Further basic patents described single- and two-lobe kneading blocks,[6] three-lobe kneading blocks [7] and the modular arrangement of screw elements on a central shaft [8][9]: 13–19 The standard elements for co-rotating twin screw extruders are commonly called "Erdmenger elements" as a result.[10][11] Erdmenger also worked and published on the subject of polymer devolatilization on co-rotating twin screw extruders.[9]: 33–34
Awards
edit- 1986: Distinguished Achievement Award of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)[12]
- Membership in the Polymer Processing Hall of Fame of the University of Akron[9]: 22
References
edit- ^ Philisterverein Vitruvia e.V. München, Mitgliederverzeichnis nach dem Stande vom Januar 1937, Nr. 506.
- ^ DE 862668, Erdmenger, Rudolf, "Vorrichtung zum Verkneten, Gelatinieren und Verpressen von plastischen Massen", published 1953-01-12
- ^ White, James (1991). "Pioneer of the Modular Co–rotating Twin Screw Extruder. Rudolf Erdmenger (1911–1991)". International Polymer Processing. 16 (2): 86. doi:10.3139/217.0102. S2CID 138346636.
- ^ "60th Anniversary of the high-performance ZSK extruder series". 2021-08-15. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15.
- ^ "50 Jahre Makrolon-Compoundierung in Krefeld-Uerdingen". 2012-09-19. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
- ^ DE 813154, Erdmenger, Rudolf, "Misch- und Knetvorrichtung", published 1951-09-06, issued 1951-09-06
- ^ DE 940109, Erdmenger, Rudolf, "Misch- und Knetvorrichtung", published 1956-03-08, issued 1956-03-08
- ^ US 3122356A, Erdmenger, Rudolf, "Worm arrangement", issued 1964-02-25
- ^ a b c Kohlgrüber, Klemens (2008). Co-Rotating Twin-Screw Extruders. Hanser Fachbuchverlag. ISBN 978-3446413726.
- ^ Sporkmann, Frederik; Schöppner, Volker. Analysis of the Characteristic Flow Areas for Erdmenger Elements to Predict the Throughput-Pressure Behavior of Co-Rotating Twin Screw Extruders by Using 3D FEM Simulation. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of the Polymer Processing Society (PPS-35). doi:10.1063/1.5142967.
- ^ Selvasankar, Ramesh Kumar (2017). Modeling and Characterization of Conical and Parallel Co-Rotating Twin Screw Extruders (PDF) (PhD thesis). Montanuniversität Leoben.
- ^ "Distinguished Achievement Award". Society of Plastics Engineers. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-08-17.