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 mixing and cooling system (1) includes a mixing and screw-extrusion machine (10) with a mixer (12) having a converging conical twin screw; a ram (30) that moves along the inside of an introduction hopper (24) of the machine; a roller nose system disposed just downstream of an outlet (25) of the mixer to form a sheet (112) of the mixture exiting the mixer; and a mobile sleeve or sleeves (34) that move in a linear movement relative to the outlet. The system also includes a cooling system with a spray installation(s) (102, 104) that delivers water at a predetermined rate to the sheet exiting the machine; a suction installation(s) proportionate to each spray installation; and at least one transport means (114, 116) that transports the sheet in a predetermined direction.

A feeding and blending apparatus for a system for continuous processing of powder products comprises at least two system inlets for powder products; and at least two feeding and dosing devices arranged in a row. Each of the at least two feeding and dosing devices comprises, an inlet being connected with a system inlet, at least one feeder, at least one actuator configured to operate the at least one feeder, and an outlet being connected with an inlet of the powder blending device. A separation wall is configured to separate a process area from a technical. Process components of the at least two feeding and dosing devices are positioned in the process area and technical components of the feeding and dosing devices are positioned in the technical area. Connections between the at least one actuator and the at least one feeder pass through the separation wall.

The invention relates to a screw (1) for an extruder or conveyor (20), in particular extruder screw, conveying screw or dosing screw for polymers, having a web (3) running helically around a core (2), wherein the web (3) is formed undercut on its active conveying flank (4) in a conveying direction (F) at least in a section of the screw (1).

A powder supply method for causing a powder supplied from a top end 70t of a tube 70 to flow down within the tube 70 and be discharged from a bottom end 70b of the tube, in which if M [kg/s] is a supply flow rate of the powder and A.sub.S [m.sup.2] is a cross-sectional area of the bottom end 70b of the tube 70, the following expression is satisfied.

1.5≤(M/A.sub.S)≤135

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacturing of composite materials from natural fibers and thermoplastic polymers. Examples of fibers are wood fibers originating from pulping processes known as refiner pulp (RMP), thermomechanical pulp (TMP) or chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP), but the process can also be applied to other kinds of natural fiber containing raw materials. In the process according to the present invention, fibers are introduced from the blowline or the housing of a refiner into a flash tube dryer, separated from humid air in a cyclone, introduced into a compounder and mixed with at least one thermoplastic polymer and the product is subsequently pelletized. The process according to the present invention is advantageously run as a continuous process.

A charging system for feeding processing material to at least one extruder screw including a hopper configured to conduct the processing material along a feed direction to the extruder screw, and a material reservoir for the gravity-driven feeding of the processing material to the hopper. The charging system also includes a feeding device via which processing material recirculated at the hopper against the feed direction by action of the extruder screw can again be conveyed in the direction of the extruder screw together with processing material fed from the material reservoir.

A process and associated system for creating color effects using extrudable material, such as plastic and metal for example, are presented. Flows of first and second viscous materials of respective colors are provided and then combined in a predetermined pattern to form a stream of combined viscous material. A dynamic mixer is the then used to apply a predetermined dividing, overturning and combining motion to the stream of combined viscous material to partially mix the first viscous material and the second viscous material, such that upon exiting the dynamic mixer, the first material of the first color and the second material of the second color form a color pattern in the stream of combined viscous material. The dynamic mixer has elements configured for acquiring a specific radial orientation in a range of radial orientations that may be varied during the application of the dividing, overturning and combining motion to the stream of combined viscous material to cause variations in the color pattern in the stream of combined viscous material. Sheets of extruded material may be created using such process and system and used in the manufacturing of many different products including, but not limited to, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, garden furniture and many others. In some embodiments, the sheets may be characterized by color bands extending diagonally with reference to a longitudinal extent of the sheet.

Continuous compounding systems include a feeding section and a compounding section. Method for compounding or mixing solid matter and liquid matter include providing a continuous compounding system, adding matter to the continuous compounding system, and mixing or compounding the matter.

The present invention relates to a method for changing material in an extrusion device comprising at least two supply devices for supplying feedstock for an extruder, comprising the following steps: identifying a change request for changing the material in the extrusion device, preparing the supply devices for changing the material, separating at least two supply devices from the feed of feedstock to the extruder, discharging feedstock from the separated supply devices, filling subsequent material into the empty supply devices.