PET polymer with improved properties

1. A polyester comprising:

i) a carboxylic acid component comprising at least 90 mol % terephthalic acid residues and from 0 to 10 mol % of carboxylic acid comonomer residues, wherein the carboxylic acid comonomer is selected from the group consisting of phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, a (C 1 -C 4 ) dialkyl ester of isophthalic acid, naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, a (C 1 -C 4 ) dialkyl ester of naphthalene-2-6-dicarboxylic acid, cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, cyclohexanediacetic acid, diphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, and sebacic acid;

ii) a hydroxyl component comprising at least 90 mol % ethylene glycol residues and additional hydroxyl residues in an amount of 1-10 mol %; wherein the additional hydroxyl residues comprise mixtures of diethylene glycol residues and hydroxyl comonomer residues, wherein said hydroxyl comonomer residues comprise 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol;

based on 100 mol % of carboxylic acid component residues and 100 mol % of hydroxyl component residues in the polyester;

wherein at least one of the carboxylic acid and hydroxyl components comprises comonomer residues, the molar ratio of the total comonomer 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol residues to diethylene glycol residues being 1.3:1.0 or greater; and

wherein the polyester comprises less than 2.3 mol % of diethylene glycol and has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.40 dL/g and less than 0.77 dL/g,

wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 15%, and

wherein the polyester is in the form of pellets.

2. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the carboxylic acid comonomer is selected from the group consisting of isophthalic acid and naphthalene 2-6-dicarboxylic acid.

3. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the polyester comprises less than 2.0 mol % of diethylene glycol.

4. A polyester according to claim 3 , wherein the polyester comprises less than 1.6 mol % of diethylene glycol.

5. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of the total comonomer 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol residues to diethylene glycol residues is 1.5:1.0 or greater.

6. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the polyester is prepared from 75% wt or greater virgin raw materials.

7. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the residual acetaldehyde content of the polyester is less than 2 ppm.

8. A polyester according to claim 7 , wherein the residual acetaldehyde content of the polyester is less than 1 ppm.

9. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the polyester has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.65 dL/g and less than 0.77 dL/g.

10. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the polyester has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.65 dL/g and less than 0.76 dL/g.

11. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein the carboxylic acid component comprises from 1 to 10 mol % of carboxylic acid comonomer or the hydroxyl component comprises from 1 to 10 mol % of additional hydroxyl residues.

12. A polyester according to claim 11 , wherein the carboxylic acid component comprises from 3 to 10 mol % of carboxylic acid comonomer or the hydroxyl component comprises from 3 to 10 mol % of additional hydroxyl residues.

13. A polyester according to claim 1 ,

the molar ratio of the total comonomer 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol residues to diethylene glycol residues is 1.5:1.0 or greater; and

wherein the polyester comprises less than 1.6 mol % of diethylene glycol and has an intrinsic viscosity of less than 0.76 dL/g.

14. A process for producing a container comprising:

feeding the polyester pellets of claim 1 to an extrusion zone;

melting the polyester pellets;

forming a sheet or molded part from the molten extruded polyester; and processing the sheet or molded part to make a container.

15. A polyester comprising:

i) a carboxylic acid component comprising 100 mol % terephthalic acid residues;

ii) a hydroxyl component comprising at least 90 and less than 95 mol % ethylene glycol residues and additional hydroxyl residues in an amount greater than 5 and up to 10 mol %; wherein the additional hydroxyl residues are diethylene glycol residues and hydroxyl comonomer residues;

based on 100 mol % of carboxylic acid component residues and 100 mol % of hydroxyl component residues in the polyester;

wherein the molar ratio of the hydroxyl comonomer residues to diethylene glycol residues is 1.3:1.0 or greater; and

wherein the polyester comprises less than 2.3 mol % of diethylene glycol and has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.40 dL/g and less than 0.80 dL/g,

wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 15% %, and

wherein the polyester is prepared from 75% wt or greater virgin raw materials and is in the form of pellets.

16. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the hydroxyl comonomer is selected from the group consisting of triethylene glycol, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, propane-1,3-diol, butane-1,4-diol, pentane-1,5-diol, hexane-1,6-diol, 3-methylpentanediol-(2,4), 2-methylpentanediol-(1,4), 2,2,4-trimethylpentane-diol-(1,3), 2,5-ethylhexanediol-(1,3), 2,2-diethyl propane-diol-(1,3), hexanediol-(1,3), 1,4-di-(hydroxyethoxy)-benzene, 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxycyclohexyl)-propane, 2,4-dihydroxy-1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-cyclobutane, 2,2-bis-(3-hydroxyethoxyphenyl)-propane, and 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxypropoxyphenyl)-propane.

17. A polyester according to claim 16 , wherein the hydroxyl comonomer is cyclohexane dimethanol.

18. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the polyester comprises less than 2.0 mol % of diethylene glycol.

19. A polyester according to claim 18 , wherein the polyester comprises less than 1.6 mol % of diethylene glycol.

20. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the molar ratio of the hydroxyl comonomer residues to diethylene glycol residues is 1.5:1.0 or greater.

21. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the acetaldehyde content of the polyester is less than 2 ppm.

22. A polyester according to claim 21 , wherein the acetaldehyde content of the polyester is less than 1 ppm.

23. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the polyester has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.65 dL/g and less than 0.78 dL/g.

24. A polyester according to claim 15 , wherein the polyester has an intrinsic viscosity greater than 0.65 dL/g and less than 0.76 dL/g.

25. A polyester according to claim 15 ,

wherein the molar ratio of the hydroxyl comonomer residues to diethylene glycol residues is 1.5:1.0 or greater; and

wherein the polyester comprises less than 1.6 mol % of diethylene glycol and has an intrinsic viscosity of less than 0.76 dL/g.

26. A process for producing a container comprising:

feeding the polyester pellets of in claim 15 to an extrusion zone;

melting the polyester pellets zone;

forming a sheet or molded part from the molten extruded polyester; and

processing the sheet or molded part to make a container.

27. A polyester according to claim 1 , wherein said carboxylic acid comonomer residues comprise isophthalic acid and/or naphthalene-2-6-dicarboxylic acid.

28. The polyester of claim 1 , wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 35% zone.

29. The polyester of claim 1 , wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 40%.

30. The polyester of claim 15 , wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 35%.

31. The polyester of claim 15 , wherein the polyester has a degree of crystallization of at least 40%.