the invention provides a method and apparatus for continuously feeding wet gel polymers into a drying step of a dry polymer synthesis operation . a number of pistons are arranged having inner chambers through which monomers and other reagents are fed and polymerized into wet gel polymers . each piston operates according to a coordinated schedule so that as one piston finishes extruding polymer into the drying step , a second piston has completed polymerizing more polymer and continues to feed more polymer without interruption . the then finished is re - fed more reagents so as to be ready again when needed next . as a result , cost effective continuous feeding can be achieved without the contamination and impurity problems that have plagued previous attempts to accomplish this .