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US 8,299,135 B2Granted
Vapor phase assisted post-consumer polymer processing apparatus and method
AssigneeBepex International, LLC
InventorGirish Bhatt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide a process for processing post-consumer polymer. The polymer is contacted with a control medium having a carrier gas and a reactive vapor. Such a process is useful for processing post-consumer polymers with lower energy and reactants than with liquid reactants, and also promotes decontamination of the recycled polymer during the reaction.
Claims24
A process for processing post-consumer polyester polymers comprising the steps of:
- a) conveying post-consumer polymer feed material to a reaction vessel;
- b) heating the polymer feed material to a temperature sufficient to initiate and sustain reaction in a solid state;
- c) contacting the heated polymer with a control medium comprising a carrier gas and a reactive vapor;
- d) performing a solid state reaction (SSR) between the polymer and control medium, to provide a product;
- e) discharging the product,
- wherein the reactive vapor comprises ethylene glycol at a concentration of about 10 and 3,000 ppm in the control medium.
3 more elements
A process for processing post-consumer polyester polymers comprising the steps of:
- a) conveying post-consumer polymer feed material to a reaction vessel;
- b) heating the polymer feed material to a temperature sufficient to initiate and sustain reaction in a solid state;
- c) contacting the heated polymer with a control medium comprising a carrier gas and a reactive vapor;
- d) performing a solid state reaction (SSR) between the polymer and control medium, to provide a product;
- e) simultaneously with step (d), reducing the level of contaminants within the polymer with the control medium;
- and
- f) discharging the product,
- wherein the reactive vapor comprises ethylene glycol at a concentration of about 10 and 3,000 ppm in the control medium.
5 more elements
A process for processing post-consumer polyester polymers comprising the steps of:
- a) conveying post-consumer polymer feed material to a reaction vessel;
- b) heating the polymer feed material to a temperature sufficient to initiate and sustain reaction in a solid state;
- c) contacting the heated polymer with a control medium comprising a carrier gas and a reactive vapor;
- d) performing a solid state reaction (SSR) between the polymer and control medium, to provide a product;
- e) discharging the product,
- wherein the reactive vapor comprises ethylene glycol at a concentration of about 10 and 3,000 ppm in the control medium, a residence time for the reaction is about 2 to about 8 hours, a temperature of the polymer during the reaction is about 190 to about 220 C, and the process permits the recovery of product having a number average molecular weight in the range of 3000 to 115,000 and an intrinsic viscosity in the range of 0.15 to 1.30 dl/g.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.