A method for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, the method comprising: (1) reducing a chamber pressure within a chamber to below about 5 millibars; (2) after reducing the chamber pressure to below about 5 millibars, providing a polymer melt to the chamber; (3) separating the polymer melt into at least eight streams; (4) while the at least eight streams of the polymer melt are within the chamber, exposing the at least eight streams of the polymer melt to the chamber pressure of below about 5 millibars; (5) after exposing the at least eight streams of the polymer melt to the chamber pressure of below about 5 millibars, recombining the at least eight streams into a single polymer stream; and (6) forming polymer from the single polymer stream into bulked continuous carpet filament.

A method for producing a thermoplastic moulding compound by means of an extruder (10), which comprises at least one feed zone (20), at least one mixing section (30), at least one venting section (40) and at least one discharge zone (50), wherein in the at least one feed zone (20) a water-containing first component and a second component are supplied, in the at least one mixing section (30) the thermoplastic moulding compound is mixed and contained water is evaporated, in the at least one venting section (40) water vapour is removed from the moulding compound and in the at least one discharge zone (50) the moulding compound is discharged. At least one of the mixing housings (31, 32) is kept at a temperature that is equal to or lower than the temperature of the moulding compound within the mixing section (30).

According to the present invention, devolatilization of a synthetic resin formed from a polymer or synthetic rubber can be improved and the synthetic resin can be foamed at a low temperature by injecting a devolatilization agent through a devolatilization agent injection nozzle provided in a downstream end segment cylinder of a cylinder assembly. In a vented twin-screw kneading extrusion apparatus and extrusion method according to the present invention, a devolatilization agent, which is injected through a downstream end devolatilization agent injection nozzle provided on a downstream end segment cylinder constituted by a segment cylinder positioned on a downstream end of a cylinder assembly, is dispersed in molten resin in the downstream end segment cylinder and kneaded by a downstream end kneading portion such that the molten resin is foamed by the devolatilization agent and then extruded.

The invention relates to a vinyl aromatic/diene-block copolymer A, obtained by an anionic polymerization of a monomer composition, comprising: Al: 60-95 wt.-% of at least one vinyl aromatic monomer, and A2:5-40 wt.-% of at least one diene monomer, wherein the vinyl aromatic/diene-block copolymer A in total comprises less than 10 parts per million (ppm) of acetaldehyde, methacrolein and styrene based on the total amount of vinyl aromatic/diene-block copolymer A; the vinyl aromatic/diene-block copolymer A has improved orgnoleptic properties and is in particular suitable for producing food packaging materials.

A process for producing a rubber mixture in a mixing apparatus having at least one mixing chamber (4, 4) in which rotors (5) are disposed, wherein a plant control system by means of which process parameters (especially the speed of the rotors (5), the suction output of a suction device (13, 14, 15) and the mixing time) are controlled by open- and closed-loop control is provided, wherein at least one rubber is mixed in the mixing chamber with at least one filler, especially silica, preferably with addition of at least one coupling agent, especially a silane, and wherein the gas mixture present in and above the mixing chamber is sucked out by means of the suction device, wherein volatile organic compounds, especially alcoholic gases, present in the gas mixture sucked in are detected continuously, wherein, in the event of exceedance of a concentration of organic compounds in the gas mixture sucked in that has been defined as the control limit, the concentration measured is employed as control variable in the plant control system for closed-loop control of at least one of the process parameters, and wherein, in the event of exceedance of a concentration of organic compounds in the gas mixture sucked in that has been defined as the safety limit, there is a safety shutdown of the mixing apparatus by means of the plant control system.

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 expanded surface area extruder while maintaining a pressure within the expanded surface area extruder below about 25 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 can be used for the degassing of a two-component multiphase polymer-monomer material. A corresponding degassing extruder contains the degassing device. The device for degassing contains at least one nozzle part having a convergent geometry, at least one constant part, and at least one diffusor part having a divergent geometry. The diffusor part contains at least three zones each having a divergent geometry, and the opening angles of the zones are specifically adapted in order to improve the separation of components of the polymer material. A process for degassing a polymer material uses the degassing device.

A device according to various embodiments for preparing wet grain can include at least a first screw configured to receive wet grain. A second screw receives the wet grain from the first screw. At least one of a compressing element and a dehydrating element is included with at least one of the first screw and the second screw to cause a physical property change to the wet grain.

To provide a rubber extruder capable of efficiently removing volatile components in unvulcanized rubber without decreasing productivity of the unvulcanized rubber. The rubber extruder 1 is for extruding the unvulcanized rubber (G) while kneading. It includes a barrel 2 having an input port 5 for introducing the unvulcanized rubber (G) and a discharge port 6 for discharging the unvulcanized rubber (G), a screw 3, which is arranged in the barrel 2, for extruding the unvulcanized rubber (G), and a vent 4 for sucking out air in the barrel 2. The screw 3 has a dam portion 7 which locally controls an extrusion amount of the unvulcanized rubber (G), a first screw portion 8 defined between the input port 5 and the dam portion 7, and a second screw portion 9 defined between the dam portion 7 and the discharge port 6. An effective screw length (L1) of the first screw portion 8 is 50% or more of a total effective screw length (L) of the screw 3.

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.