Process for producing a crosslinked article

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a process. In an embodiment, the process includes providing an apparatus. The apparatus includes (A) a passageway with an interior for receiving a first flow stream (FFS1) comprising a melted polymeric composition, the passageway having an inflow end and an opposing outflow end. The apparatus includes (B) a gear pump assembly having (i) a housing, (ii) a gear chamber in the housing, (iii) an inlet placing the passageway outflow end in fluid communication with the gear chamber, the inlet having a width (Iw), (iv) a plurality of intermeshing gears mounted for rotation in the gear chamber, the gears having teeth which engage with each other in the chamber, and (v) an outlet in fluid communication with the gear chamber. The apparatus includes (C) one or more injectors upstream of the gear pump assembly for adding a second fluid into the first flow stream. The second fluid is composed of an optional radically graftable species, an optional cure agent, and a peroxide. The peroxide has an activation temperature. The process includes introducing the second fluid from each injector into the FFS1 at a location upstream of the inlet and feeding the FFS1 and the second fluid into the inlet. The process includes mixing, in the gear chamber, the second fluid with FFS1 to form a mixed fluid flowstream (mFFS), and discharging the mFFS from the outlet and into a die head to form a shaped article. The process includes passing the shaped article through a curing chamber, and crosslinking, in the curing chamber, the polymer to form a crosslinked shaped article (CSA).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.