A PROCESS FOR TRANSFORMING A BULK POLYMER MATERIAL BY MOULDING OR EXTRUSION, AND APPARATUS OPERATING ACCORDING TO THE PROCESS

摘要

A process for transforming of bulk polymer material by moulding or extrusion, comprising the steps of: - providing the polymer material in at least one hopper (4) connected to a heating line (5), - heating the polymer material contained in the hopper by means of a heating fluid conveyed in the heating line; - transferring the polymer material from the at least one hopper (4) to a moulding apparatus (3) or an extrusion apparatus comprising a mould (10) or an extrusion head and a cooling circuit (11) for the mould or for the extrusion head; - introducing the polymer material into the mould (10) or extrusion head and forming the polymer material according to the shape of the mould or extrusion head; and - cooling the mould (10) or the extrusion head by means of a cooling liquid conveyed in the cooling circuit. A heat pump (20) operating with a process fluid is provided between the heating line (5) and the cooling circuit (11), so as to heat the heating fluid while simultaneously cooling the cooling liquid by means of the process fluid.