The invention relates to a filter device for polymer melts, having a filter screen (1), through which the polymer melt to be purified is guided, wherein the filter device comprises at least one scraping element (2), which glides across the upstream surface (4) of the filter screen (1) with its scraping edge (3), or rests on the surface (4) with its end area nearest the scraping edge (3), and lifts off and/or scrapes off the contaminations (6) adhering to the surface (4) and those present in front of the screen orifices (5) in the course of its movement across the surface (4). According to the invention it is provided that the scraping edge (3) has a curvature (7) at least in the end area of the same, leading in the direction of movement (16), the radius (R) of which is less than 90%, preferably less than 50%, in particular less than 20% of the maximum diameter, or of the maximum orifice width of the screen orifices (5).

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) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 1.5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.

A filter arrangement with a top element and a bottom element and a filter element therebetween captures oversized particles on the upper surface of the filter element and tangentially rinses these particles using an elution fluid to provide a concentration of particles in a relatively low volume of fluid for further analysis. A configuration using a slider valve may also be utilized. Additionally, an arrangement of supply and receiving containers may be used to minimize the number of containers required. A mass flow meter may be incorporated to measure the flow of elution fluid. Finally, a wash stage of the filtering process may be used to introduce stain onto the particles for further analysis, such as that associated with Gram staining and these stained particles may be further analyzed.

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) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) 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) passing the group of flakes through an MRS extruder while maintaining the pressure within the MRS portion of the MRS extruder below about 5 millibars; (E) passing the resulting polymer melt through at least one filter having a micron rating of less than about 50 microns; and (F) forming the recycled polymer into bulked continuous carpet filament that consists essentially of recycled PET.

A protected drain assembly comprising a drain which is at least partially bordered by a hard surface, and which is protected by a drain cover assembly which comprises (A) a polymeric sheet which (i) is on top of the drain and (ii) (a) is substantially impervious to water or (b) comprises a central portion which, when a sediment-containing liquid is placed on top of it, allows the liquid to pass through it, and (B) gaskets which (i) are attached to edges of the polymeric sheet and (ii) secure the edges of the polymeric sheet to the hard surface.

The present invention relates to a filter device for separating debris from a fluid. The filter device includes a housing having at least one inlet, at least one first outlet, and a second outlet. The filter device further includes a filter cartridge that allows fluid to pass therethrough but prevents passage of debris therethrough. The filter cartridge is positioned within the housing so as to define an upper chamber and a lower chamber within the housing. The at least one inlet is positioned so as to allow contaminated fluid to enter the lower chamber of the housing. Fluid must pass through the filter cartridge in an upward direction to reach the upper chamber, and the first outlet is positioned so as to allow filtered fluid to exit the upper chamber. The second outlet is positioned to allow debris accumulated within the lower chamber to be discharged.

A method for manufacturing pellets from polymer, comprising: (1) melting polymer flakes in a first section of a melt processing unit to create a first single stream of polymer melt; (2) separating the first single stream of polymer melt into multiple streams of polymer melt by means of a separation element; (3) passing the multiple streams through a multiple stream section of said melt processing unit and exposing the multiple streams to a pressure within the multiple stream section of the melt processing unit as the multiple streams pass through the multiple stream section; (4) recombining the multiple streams into at least one combined stream of polymer melt; and (5) cooling the polymer melt and forming said pellets from the at least one combined stream. The intrinsic viscosity of the at least one combined stream may be determined and, in response, the chamber pressure within the multiple stream section adjusted.

A protected drain assembly comprising a drain which is at least partially bordered by a hard surface, and which is protected by a drain cover assembly which comprises (A) a laminar sheet which (i) is on top of the drain and (ii) comprises a central portion which, when a sediment-containing liquid is placed on top of it, allows the liquid to pass through it, and (B) gaskets which (i) are attached to edges of the laminar sheet and (ii) secure the edges of the laminar sheet to the hard surface.

A rigid flow control device includes a porous rigid body having an outer surface and an inner surface. The body defines a flow path and is formed from a material operatively arranged with a surface energy less than that of the fluid for passively impeding an undesirable component of the fluid more than a desirable component of the fluid.