Process for rapidly dissolving gels of water-soluble polymers by extrusion, cutting and then slurrying under high shearing forces

A process for preparing dilute aqueous solutions of water-soluble polymer having an intrinsic viscosity of at least one deciliter per gram measured in 2 normal sodium chloride 25.5 C. from gels of said polymer, said process comprising the steps of:

• (a) extruding the water-soluble polymer gels into flowing water through die holes in an extrusion die plate, said die holes having diameters of from at least about 0.06 inch to about 0.50 inch, forming polymer gel strands,
• (b) cutting the extruding polymer gel strands at the exterior surface of the extrusion die plate to a length of less than about 0.75 inch, forming a slurry of the cut gel particles in the flowing water,
• (c) subjecting the slurry of gel particles of step (b) to high shearing forces immediately after formation of said slurry such that no substantial dissolution of the gel particles occurs prior to subjecting of said particles to said high shearing forces, said forces being sufficient to reduce the particle size of the cut gel particles to less than about 0.030 inch in greatest dimension, and
• (d) mixing the resultant slurry of fine gel particles and additional water under low shear conditions sufficient to maintain the suspension of particles in water, rapidly forming a dilute aqueous solution of polymer.