Injector (14) for injecting a liquid formulation into a molten polymer includes outlet (21) at one end and, at its other end, is arranged to be connected to upstream conduit (25) via a coupling housing (26) so that liquid formulation can pass from conduit into the injector, and further includes an elongate conduit (27) in which an elongate pin is slideably arranged being capable of expelling all liquid formulation from conduit. To address the risk the outlet could become blocked in use, whilst avoiding the need to depressurize and/or stop the flow or polymer in extruder (19), the injection apparatus includes a spool (34) which is rotatably mounted within wall (35) of the extruder and is arranged to be rotated about an axis which extends substantially perpendicularly to the elongate extent of the extruder through which a polymer stream (18) flows. The spool may be moved between a first configuration and a second configuration wherein a flow path is interrupted, but wherein molten polymer continues to flow in said polymer flow conduit.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament from polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) comprises: (1) splitting the PTT stream extruded from the primary extruder into a number of polymer streams, each of the plurality of polymer streams having an associated spinning machine; (2) adding a colorant to each split polymer stream; (3) adding PET to the extruded polymer stream downstream of the primary extruder; (4) using one or more static mixing assemblies for each split polymer stream to substantially uniformly mix each split polymer stream and its respective colorant and PET; and (5) spinning each polymer stream with its substantially uniformly mixed colorant and any additives into BCF using the respective spinning machine.

A method of introducing color to a polymer stream during the manufacturing of bulked continuous carpet filament comprises: adding a colorant to a polymer stream downstream of a primary extruder; changing a color probe within a color injection port while maintaining the flow of the polymer stream at a polymer stream pressure; using one or more static mixing assemblies for the polymer stream to substantially uniformly mix the polymer stream and its colorant; and spinning the polymer stream with its substantially uniformly mixed colorant into BCF using a spinning machine.

A method of introducing color to a polymer stream during the manufacturing of bulked continuous carpet filament comprises: adding a colorant to a polymer stream downstream of a primary extruder; changing a color probe within a color injection port while maintaining the flow of the polymer stream at a polymer stream pressure; using one or more static mixing assemblies for the polymer stream to substantially uniformly mix the polymer stream and its colorant; and spinning the polymer stream with its substantially uniformly mixed colorant into BCF using a spinning machine.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament from polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) comprises: (1) splitting the PTT stream extruded from the primary extruder into a number of polymer streams, each of the plurality of polymer streams having an associated spinning machine; (2) adding a colorant to each split polymer stream; (3) adding PET to the extruded polymer stream downstream of the primary extruder; (4) using one or more static mixing assemblies for each split polymer stream to substantially uniformly mix each split polymer stream and its respective colorant and PET; and (5) spinning each polymer stream with its substantially uniformly mixed colorant and any additives into BCF using the respective spinning machine.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament from a plurality of polymer flakes comprises: (1) providing an extruder; (2) melting and purifying the plurality of polymer flakes into a polymer stream using the extruder; (3) providing a static mixing assembly downstream of the extruder; (4) adding a first liquid colorant to a center of the polymer stream at a first location before the static mixing assembly or along a length of the static mixing assembly; (5) adding a second liquid colorant to the polymer stream at a second location before the static mixing assembly or along a length of the static mixing assembly; (6) using the static mixing assembly to mix the polymer stream with the first and second liquid colorant to create a colored polymer stream; and (7) forming the colored polymer stream into bulked continuous carpet filament.

A system comprising: (1) a grinding unit configured to receive and grind recycled PET bottles into a group of polymer flakes comprising up to about ten percent colored polymer flakes and balance substantially clear polymer flakes; (2) a washing unit configured to wash the group of polymer flakes; and (3) an extruder configured to extrude material in a plurality of different extrusion streams. The extruder may be further configured to: (1) receive a concentrate-polymer mixture comprising a mixture of the polymer flakes and a color concentrate; (2) melt the concentrate-polymer mixture to produce a polymer melt; (3) reduce a pressure within the extruder; and (4) pass the polymer melt through the extruder so that the polymer melt is divided into the plurality of extrusion streams. The system may then filter the polymer melt through at least one filter and form the polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament.

Methods of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprise: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) adding one or more color concentrates to the flakes; (E) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder (400) while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion (420) of the MRS extruder (400) below about 25 millibars; (F) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter (450) having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (G) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) adding one or more color concentrates to the flakes; (E) passing the group of flakes through an extrusion system while maintaining the pressure within the extrusion system below about 25 millibars; (F) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (G) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament which, in various embodiments, comprises: (A) grinding recycled PET bottles into a group of flakes; (B) washing the flakes; (C) identifying and removing impurities, including impure flakes, from the group of flakes; (D) adding one or more color concentrates to the flakes; (E) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 25 millibars; (F) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (G) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.