Polymer granules are conveyed and plasticized using an innovational vane extruder composed of several vane plasticizing and conveying units (VPCUs). This study developed a mathematic model to analyze the bulk density of polymer granules in a VPCU, as well as conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of device geometry, polymer properties, and operating conditions on the model. By comparing the theoretical model data with the experiment data, the proposed model of bulk density is found to be aligned with actual conditions, thus providing a basis for device and process optimization. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.