[CRUNCHING PLASTIC BOTTLES]
>> PLASTIC BOTTLES ARE DIFFICULT TO WALK ON --
UNLESS THOSE BOTTLES ARE RECYCLED INTO CARPETING.
THAT'S RIGHT.
YOU MIGHT BE WALKING ON THE PLASTIC BOTTLE YOU DRANK FROM A
FEW MONTHS AGO.
THAT'S BECAUSE THESE CARPET FIBERS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES SHARE
A SIMILAR BEGINNING.
>> A FULLY CROSS-LINKED POLYMER THAT WE CALL POLYESTER.
AND THEY CALL IT POLYTEREPHTHALIC ACID.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE USE.
AND IT'S THE SAME THING THAT'S USED IN THE -- THE COKE BOTTLES,
POP BOTTLES, UM, THE CLEAR PACKAGING FOR FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES AT YOUR GROCERY STORE.
ALL THAT IS -- IS THIS POLYESTER POLYMER.
>> IT ALL STARTS WITH WHAT ARE CALL P.E.T.
PELLETS.
THAT STANDS FOR POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE.
HERE'S HOW THE CHEMICAL REACTION CAN BE REPRESENTED.
ESSENTIALLY, IT'S MADE FROM SEVERAL ORGANIC COMPOUNDS MIXED
WITH CHEMICAL CATALYSTS.
>> WE'RE GOING TO MAKE THIS INTO A FIBER.
>> AND DEPENDING HOW IT'S PROCESSED, P.E.T.
CAN BE MADE
INTO THOUSANDS OF PRODUCTS.
IT'S ALSO EASILY RECYCLED.
THAT'S WHY THOSE SAME PROPERTIES THAT ALLOW POLYESTER MOLECULES
TO BE SHAPED INTO BOTTLES AND FOOD CONTAINERS ALSO ALLOW IT TO
BE STRETCHED INTO THIN CARPET FIBERS.
THE PROCESS IS CALLED EXTRUSION, AND IT TAKES PLACE IN A
THREE-STORY MANUFACTURING FACILITY, AND IT'S ALL BASED ON
CHEMISTRY.
THE NEWLY MADE P.E.T.
PELLETS ALONG WITH RECYCLED PRODUCT ARE
PULLED INTO A MACHINE WHERE THEY ARE DRIED AND MELTED AT ABOUT
300 DEGREES CELSIUS.
THAT'S ROUGHLY 570 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
IT'S THEN DRAWN INTO A SPINNERET TO BE SHAPED AND THEN STRETCHED.
>> IF HE STRETCHED IT, IT GOT STRONGER.
AND WHAT THAT WAS WAS THESE LONG-CHAIN MOLECULES THAT THIS
VESSEL CREATES ALLOWS YOU TO STRETCH IT AND STRETCH IT AND
STRETCH IT.
AND ALL THOSE MOLECULES INTERLACE THEMSELVES AND GIVE
YOU A STRONG FIBER.
SO -- SO AS THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPED, NYLON'S PRETTY
EXPENSIVE.
POLYPROPYLENE WAS PRETTY CHEAP.
AND POLYESTER WAS SOMETHING IN BETWEEN.
IT WAS SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE, BUT IT'S GOT SOME GREAT FEATURES
THAT -- THAT ARE GREAT FOR CARPET.
IT'S GREAT FOR TEXTILES.
IF YOU EVER LOOK AT YOUR T-SHIRTS, IT'S ALWAYS A 50/50
COTTON BLEND OR SOMETHING BECAUSE POLYESTER'S SYNTHETIC
AND COTTON'S NATURAL.
COTTON NATURAL HAS WICKING CAPABILITY.
POLYESTER DOESN'T LIKE MUCH WATER, SO IT KIND OF WICKS ON
ITS OWN.
>> TRANSFORMING PELLETS INTO CARPET FIBER ONLY TAKES ABOUT
SEVEN MINUTES.
THE HEAT AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MOLECULE ALLOW THE
MATERIAL TO BE MADE THINNER AND THINNER AS IT GOES THROUGH THE
PROCESS.
>> AND THIS YARN, WHEN WE WIND IT, IS GOING ABOUT 120 MILES AN
HOUR.
SO WE'RE MAKING IT VERY, VERY FAST.
AND OUR GOAL IS, IS THAT IF WE HAVE 200 OF THESE FILAMENTS THAT
WE'RE SPINNING TOGETHER INTO A FIBER BUNDLE IS TO MAKE MILES
AND MILES AND MILES OF YARN, 10,000 TO 20,000 MILES OF YARN,
WITHOUT HAVING ONE OF THOSE LITTLE FILAMENTS BREAK.
LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
IF YOU TAKE THIS FILAMENT, BY THE TIME IT COMES TO OUR
FINISHED YARN, IT'S GOING TO BE ABOUT 20% THE SIZE OF A HUMAN
HAIR.
>> 200 FILAMENTS TOGETHER MAKE ONE THREAD.
>> AND WHAT THESE ARE ARE CROSS-SECTIONS OF FIBERS,
AND THIS IS MAGNIFIED ABOUT 800 TIMES.
BUT THIS IS -- THIS IS ONE FILAMENT, UM, IN AMONGST 200.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE YARN SHAPE'S GONNA BE, APPROXIMATELY, WHEN IT
COMES OUT OF OUR SPINNERET.
>> AND ALL THOSE FILAMENTS WITH THAT UNUSUAL SHAPE MAKE CARPET
FEEL SOFT.
>> SO IF YOU HAVE A YARN SYSTEM THAT'S MADE OUT OF DIFFERENT
SHAPES, THAT HAVE DIFFERENT SIZE WRINKLES AND DIFFERENT CORNERS
ON THE EDGES, THEN YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT AIR IN
BETWEEN ALL THOSE FILAMENTS.
SO THAT'S WHERE WHEN YOU FEEL A CARPET AND IT'S GOT THIS KIND OF
SPRINGY BUOYANCY IS, WE'VE TEXTURED THE YARN.
>> AND THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF SCIENCE, BECAUSE SCIENCE HAS
ALLOWED FOR THE CREATION OF NEW MATERIALS THAT MAKE FOR MORE
DURABLE CARPET, MORE AFFORDABLE CARPET.
AND THAT SCIENCE AFFECTS NOT ONLY CARPET BUT ALSO PROTECTIVE
CLOTHING.
>> THE RAYON FIBER YOU SEE IS -- IS NOMEX.
THE YELLOW FIBER YOU SEE IS KEVLAR.
>> YOU CAN SPOT THE KEVLAR AND NOMEX, BUT THERE IS AN ALMOST
INVISIBLE GRAY-COLORED THIRD FIBER THAT IS ADDED TO THE MIX,
AND THAT GETS RID OF STATIC ELECTRICITY.
THE MATERIAL IS USED IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS.
FIBER SCIENCE AND CHEMISTRY ARE INTERTWINED THROUGHOUT THE PHARR
YARNS COMPLEX.
>> THERE'S NO ONE FIBER THAT SOLVES EVERY PROTECTIVE
SITUATION.
SO WE TAKE SOME OF THE BEST PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT FIBERS
AND BLEND THOSE TOGETHER.
>> THIS MATERIAL IS MADE FROM REGENERATED CELLULOSE.
IT'S PART OF WHAT FORMS THE CELL WALL IN PLANTS.
IN THIS CASE, THE FIBERS ARE MADE FROM THE BARK OF BIRCH
TREES.
IT IS VERY FIRE-RESISTANT.
THIS IS ALSO FIRE-RESISTANT, BUT IT'S MADE FROM THE SAME
MATERIAL AS PVC PIPING.
THIS IS TRADITIONAL NYLON, BUT WHEN COMBINED WITH OTHER
MATERIALS, IT PRODUCES FIBER THAT IS CUT-RESISTANT.
PHARR YARNS PRODUCES ABOUT 150 TYPES OF FIBERS.
>> WE'RE YARN SPINNERS.
OUR -- OUR EXPERTISE HERE IS TO KNOW THE DIFFERENT FIBERS AND
THE EFFICACY OF THE CERTAIN FIBERS, THE VALUE THAT THEY HAVE
IN PROTECTION OR SOME PERFORMANCE VALUE.
AND WE KNOW HOW TO BLEND THOSE.
SO OVER THE YEARS, WE'VE MORPHED FROM BEING JUST TRUE SYNTHETIC,
JUST POLYESTER OR COMMODITY TYPE, TO REALLY HIGH-PERFORMANCE
MATERIAL.
SO TODAY OUR SCIENCE IS ABOUT PROTECTING PEOPLE,
PROTECTING PRODUCTS, SOME DEFENSE-RELATED MATERIALS,
INCLUDING GARMENTS THAT OUR -- THAT OUR SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN,
BOTH WOMEN AND MEN, WEAR WHEN THEY'RE IN TACTICAL SITUATIONS.
ALL SORTS OF THINGS.
WE'RE IN ORBIT.
WE HAVE PRODUCTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY ORBITING THE EARTH.