Recycled content polyethylene terephthalate and method of making the same
AssigneeEastman Chemical Company
InventorsMichael Paul Ekart, Bruce Roger DeBruin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Processes and systems for producing recycled content polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) are provided. Integration of chemical recycling facilities with PET production facilities reduces energy consumption and helps minimize adverse environmental impacts, while providing valuable end products having up to 100 percent recycled content. Additionally, processes and systems described herein may provide high IV, crystalline PET based on dimethyl terephthalate, which can exhibit desirable properties during molding and other end use applications.
Claims18
A recycled content polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) resin comprising:
- a diester component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), based on the total moles in the diester component;
- a diol component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of ethylene glycol (EG), based on the total moles in the diol component,
- wherein the r-PET comprises recycled content obtained from waste plastic, and
- wherein the r-PET comprises not more than 0.1 mole % of residues of each of the following components:
- 4-methyl formyl benzoate, dimethyl 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate, dimethyl phthalate, methyl isopropyl terephthalate, methyl propyl terephthalate, and methyl isobutyl terephthalate.
A recycled content polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) resin comprising:
- a diester component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), based on the total moles in the diester component;
- a diol component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of ethylene glycol (EG), based on the total moles in the diol component,
- wherein the r-PET comprises recycled content obtained from waste plastic, and
- wherein the r-PET comprises at least 0.5 mole % of residues of each of the following compounds:
- diisobutyl phthalate, methyl 4-ethylbenzoate, and methyl 4-vinylbenzoate.
A recycled content polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) resin comprising:
- a diester component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and not more than 0.50 mole percent residues of terephthalic acid, based on the total moles in the diester component;
- a diol component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of ethylene glycol (EG), based on the total moles in the diol component,
- wherein the r-PET comprises recycled content obtained from waste plastic and has an inherent viscosity (IV) in the range of from 0.65 to 1.10 dL/g, and
- wherein the r-PET comprises a plurality of spheroidal particles having an intrinsic viscosity (It.V.) gradient such that the It.V. at the surface of each particle is less than 0.25 dL/g higher than the It.V. at the center of the particle.
A recycled content polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) resin comprising:
- a diester component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), based on the total moles in the diester component;
- a diol component comprising at least 50 mole percent of residues of ethylene glycol (EG), based on the total moles in the diol component,
- wherein the r-PET comprises recycled content obtained from waste plastic and has an inherent viscosity (IV) of 0.65 to 0.85 dL/g,
- wherein the r-PET comprises a plurality of particles having an intrinsic viscosity (It.V.) gradient such that the It.V. at the surface of each particle is less than 0.25 dL/g higher than the It.V. at the center of the particle, and
- wherein at least one of the following (i) through (iii) is true—
- (i) the r-PET comprises not more than 100 ppm of cobalt (Co) and bromide (Br);
- (ii) the r-PET has a methyl ends concentration of at least 5% and not more than 30%, based on the total end groups;
- and
- (iii) the r-PET comprises not more than 0.1 mole % of residues of 4-carboxybenzaldehyde and 9-fluoreneone-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, based on the total moles of the polyester.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.