Method and apparatus for thermally processing polyester pellets and a corresponding pellet preparation

Abstract

Method and apparatus for thermally processing polyester pellets, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate pellets, in order to achieve a partial crystallization, whereby the polyester melt is fed to an underwater pelletizer and pelletized, the pellets obtained are fed to a water / solids separating device and the dried pellets are fed at a pellet temperature of greater than 100° C. to an agitation device that the pellets leave at a pellet temperature of over 100° C.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 962,614, filed Oct. 13, 2004, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application No. 103 49 016.7-43, filed Oct. 17, 2003, and German Patent Application No. 10 2004 021 595.2, filed May 3, 2004, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention relates to a method for thermally processing polyester pellets in order to achieve crystallization and to the polyester pellet preparation produced thereby. [0004] 2. Discussion of Background Information [0005] Polyethylene terephthalate, hereinafter also referred to herein as PET for short, is a polyester with repeating ester groups. [0006] PET can be present in different structures, namely in amorphous or in crystalline or partially crystalline form. Amorphous PET is mostly transparen...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0033] The pellets having this temperature are then subjected to an agitation whereby the crystallization begins. This crystallization according to the method according to the invention is determined by the specific heat and it is thus achieved that the product, i.e., the pellets, do not agglomerate and no longer stick to one another. This effect is also increased in that the product to be crystallized has a ball shape or a lenticular shape, and thus manages with the smallest possible contact surfaces to one another.

[0037] With the method according to the invention and the apparatus according to the invention a gentle, economic and rapid crystallization of PET pellets is achieved.

Problems solved by technology

As with all thermoplastics that can be present in amorphous or crystalline form, a 100% degree of crystallization is also not possible with PET.

In so far as continuous methods for producing dry PET pellets are known, in general they require very large installations, since long crystallization times are necessary.

It is evident that such a method is extraordinarily expensive and therefore can barely be conducted economically.

Known methods that work with an aerodynamic processing also have the serious disadvantage that they use a large amount of inert gases.

The energy and processing costs are also too high here for a practical large-scale application.

These cited problems have hitherto hampered PET recycling.

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