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 device, to homogenise plastics material melts, has a homogenising element with a plurality of flow channels, which differ with respect to at least one feature from the group length, cross sectional area and cross sectional shape. When flowing through the homogenising element, the plastics material melt is divided into a plurality of part streams, which, in each case, flow through an associated flow channel. When leaving the respective flow channel the part streams have different flow speeds so the plastics material melt is expanded and sheared on transition to a uniform flow. As a result, a homogenisation of the plastics material melt takes place in a simple, efficient and effective manner.

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 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.

An extrusion die includes a die body with two mating die halves, at least one of which is engraved with a die cavity system. The die cavity system includes a melt inlet, a first-stage melt reservoir in fluid communication with the melt inlet, a plurality of melt channels extending from the first-stage melt reservoir, and an extrusion trough in fluid communication with the melt channels and extending across the die half. Multiple stages of reservoirs and channels may be used. The melt channels in each stage have an equal length and cross-sectional area. Some of the melt channels may have a curved portion to maintain an equal length with other melt channels in the same stage. The die halves are secured by a plurality of fasteners. A method for extruding a fluid using the die is also provided. The die may be used to create films or fibers, including nano-fibers.

A method of manufacturing a flexible pipe that may include directing a first polymer composition through a first manifold and directing the first polymer composition along an outer surface of a metal tubular structure to form a first polymer tubular structure having an outer surface. Additionally, the method may include directing a second polymer composition through a second manifold and directing the second polymer composition onto the outer surface of first polymer tubular structure to form a second polymer tubular structure having an outer surface polymer tubular structure. Further, directing a third polymer composition through a third manifold and directing the third polymer composition onto the outer surface of second polymer tubular structure to form the flexible pipe. The flexible pipe includes a first layer made of the first polymer composition, a second layer made of the second polymer composition, and a third layer made of the third polymer composition.

A molding member shape control device includes: a flowable molding material flow passage; a flow resistance member advancing into and withdrawing from the flowable molding material flow passage; a sensor measuring a speed of a molding member formed by extruding a molding material from the flowable molding material flow passage; and a control unit advancing and withdrawing the flow resistance member on the basis of a difference between a speed of the molding member measured by the sensor and a target speed of the molding member at a position of the sensor.

A feedblock including a first packet creator that forms a first packet including a first plurality of polymeric layers, the first plurality of layers including at least four first individual polymeric layers; and a second packet creator that forms a second packet including a second plurality of polymeric layers, the second plurality of layers including at least four second individual polymeric layers, wherein the first and second packet creators are configured such that, for each packet creator, respective individual polymeric layers of the plurality of polymeric layers are formed at approximately the same time. The feedblock may include a packet combiner that receives and combines the first and second primary packets to form a multilayer stream. In some examples, at least one of the first and second primary packets may be spread in the cross-web direction prior to being combined with one another.

The invention relates to a filter device comprising an inlet chamber, an outlet chamber, a filter system which separates the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber. The filter device is characterised in that the inlet chamber comprises at least one liquid supply line and at least one liquid discharge line and the outlet chamber does not comprise a liquid supply and comprises at least one liquid discharge line. The invention also relates to a corresponding filter method.

Systems (200) and methods for making different plastic products (202, 204) in a single melting process are provided. A method includes melting a plastic resin in a first extruder (104) to form a melt (106) and transferring at least a portion of the melt to a second extruder (114). Any portion of the melt (106) that is not transferred to the second extruder (114) is formed into a first plastic product (202). Additives (116) are blended with the melt in the second extruder to form a second melt (118), and a second plastic product (204) is formed from the second melt (118).