Methods for manufacturing bulked continuous filament

A method for manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, the method comprising:

• providing a crystallizer;
• providing an extruder, wherein the extruder comprises a chamber and defines an extruder inlet and an extruder outlet;
• providing a pressure regulation system configured to reduce a pressure within the chamber;
• providing a spinning machine defining a spinning machine inlet, wherein the spinning machine inlet is operatively coupled to the extruder outlet;
• using the pressure regulation system to reduce the pressure within the chamber;
• passing a plurality of polymer flakes through the crystallizer;
• after passing the plurality of polymer flakes through the crystallizer, melting the plurality of polymer flakes to create a polymer melt;
• using the extruder to separate the polymer melt into a plurality of different streams, the plurality of different streams comprising at least eight streams of the polymer melt;
• exposing each of the at least eight streams of the polymer melt to the pressure while the at least eight streams of the polymer melt are in the chamber;
• after exposing the at least eight streams of the polymer melt to the pressure, recombining the at least eight streams into a single polymer stream;
• and
• substantially immediately after recombining the at least eight streams into the single polymer stream, using the spinning machine to form polymer from the single polymer stream into bulked continuous carpet filament.

A method of manufacturing bulked continuous carpet filament, the method comprising:

• (A) providing a PET crystallizer;
• (B) passing at least a portion of the plurality of flakes comprising recycled PET through the PET crystallizer to at least partially dry a surface of the plurality of flakes comprising recycled PET;
• (C) providing an expanded surface area extruder, wherein the expanded surface area extruder defines an expanded surface area extruder inlet and an expanded surface area extruder outlet;
• (D) providing a pressure regulation system configured to reduce a pressure within at least a portion of the expanded surface area extruder below about 25 mbar;
• (E) providing a spinning machine defining a spinning machine inlet, wherein the spinning machine inlet is operatively coupled to the expanded surface area extruder outlet;
• (F) using the pressure regulation system to reduce the pressure within the at least a portion of the expanded surface area extruder below about 25 mbar;
• (G) after passing the plurality of flakes comprising recycled PET through the PET crystallizer, passing the plurality of flakes comprising PET flakes through the expanded surface area extruder via the expanded surface area extruder inlet to at least partially melt the plurality of flakes to form a polymer melt such that at least a portion of the polymer melt is exposed to the pressure within the at least a portion of the expanded surface area extruder;
• and
• (H) substantially immediately after passing the plurality of flakes through the expanded surface area extruder, using the spinning machine to form the polymer melt into bulked continuous carpet filament.