Patent ID: 8044169

Claim:
A polyester polymer production process comprising: (a) transporting a slurry comprising polyester polymer particles and a quench liquid through a slurry conduit coupled to a centrifugal particle dryer, wherein said dryer comprises a housing, a generally cylindrical screen located inside said housing, and a generally upright rotor configured to rotate inside said screen; (b) discharging said slurry through an inlet opening of said screen in a discharge direction offset from the axis of rotation of said rotor, wherein said discharge direction is generally in the direction of rotation of said rotor at said inlet opening; and (c) removing said quench liquid from said polyester polymer particles in said particle dryer to thereby produce dried particles wherein said polyester polymer particles comprise a carboxylic acid component and a hydroxyl component, wherein said carboxylic acid component comprises at least 80 mole percent of the residues of terephthalic acid, wherein said hydroxyl component comprises at least 80 mole percent of residues of ethylene glycol.