RUBBER INDUSTRIES

CHE 432
INDUSTRIAL PROCESS

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 History
• Priestley gave the name “rubber” after
observing the ability of material to rub out
a pencil mark
• World War I, inferior grades of rubber
produced in Germany or Russia
• 1839: Goodyear discover the cure or
vulcanization of rubber with sulfur
• 1941: Japanese invasion stimulate
research and manufacture of various
synthetic rubbers
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 Natural Rubber (NR)
• Established on plantation in Malaya, Indonesia,
Liberia etc. due to freedom from insect and
fungus diseases which beset the tree in its
native land
• Trees require 7 yrs to reach bearing age and
continue to yield for a no. of yrs
• Collection & processing of latex requires
considerable labor
• Latex obtained by tapping tree to allow liquid to
accumulate in small cups collected frequently to
avoid putrefaction or contamination
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• Latex carried to collection station where it is
strained and preservative (NH3) added
• Rubber separated usg. coagulation process
which occurs when various acids and salts
added together
• Rubber separates from liquid as white, doughlike
mass, milled and sheeted to remove
contamination and dryed
• New method to form coagulated latex into
granules by cutting with rotating knives or by
shear between two rollers running at different
speeds
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• Granules dried in mechanical dryers in hours
instead of days that air or wood-smoke dryers
required
• Rubber softened before compounded with
various additives
• After softening, compounding materials eg.
Carbon black, sulfur or sulfur compounds,
vulcanizing acelerator, antioxidant and oil are
mixed
• Then rubber is shaped into desired product by
extruding or molding and vulcanised
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• Vulcanization leads to cross-linked thermoset
polymer that cannot be softened or melted by
reheating to original melting point
• Important to control ht. of vulcanization (140 oC)
to obtain optimum properties in the finished
rubber
• Vulcanization – chemical rxn., hence speed
increases with temp. and care to ensure rxn.
does not take place prematurely
• Natural rubber – cis-1,4-polyisoprene when
stretched, molecule crystallize producing
superior form of reinforcement
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• Both NR&SR have long threadlike
molecules
• Reversible extensibility property results
from randomly coiled arrangement of long
polymer chains
• When extended, chains distorted but like a
spring, revert to kinked arrangement upon
removal of stress.
• NR contains 6 to 8% nonrubber materials
and outstanding heat-buildup resistance
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 Synthetic Rubber (SR)
• Classified into vulcanizable and
nonvulcanizable and by chemical
composition of polymer chain
• Table 36.4 – various classes and types
together with accepted abbreviations
• Most widely used SR – styrene butadiene
rubber (SBR)
• Rubber monomers – butadiene, styrene,
acrylonitrile, chloroprene, isobutylene,
isoprene, ethylene and propylene
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 Monomer production
• Butadiene : (Fig.36.1 & 36.2)
- obtained fr. coprodt of steam cracking of
petroleum for ethylene manufacture
- alternative routes - dehydrogenation of butane or
butenes in one/two steps process
- Houdry process (1 step): n-butane (feedstock),
catalyst (aluminium&chromium oxides), 1,4-
butadiene yield (57-63%)
- 2 steps process converts n-butane to n-butenes,
undergoes oxidation-dehydrogenation catalyst
plus compress air or steam converts n-butenes
to 1,4-butadiene
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• Styrene : (Fig. 36.1 & 36.3)
- Rubber monomer for polystyrene plastics
- Predominant route via ethylbenzene made from
alkylation of C6H6 and C2H4
- Then ethylbenzene dehydrogenate to styrene
over Al2Cl3, solid HPO3 or Si-Al catalyst

• Acrylonitrile :
- Made from Sohio process that treats propylene
with air and ammonia in fluidised bed catalytic
reactor
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Synthetic – Rubber Polymerization
• Controlling factor: dissipation of polymerization
heat
• HOW???
- Adjustment of reaction rate to distribute heat
generation over time
- Use of refrigerants eg. Ammonia
- Operation in dilute media eg. emulsion or
solutions
• Quality factor: molecular weight & molecular
configuration
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 Monomer Recovery
• Rubber quality and reaction rate both fall
off as polymerization proceeds
• Normal to stop rxn short of complete
conversion to rubber
• Recovery of unrxted monomers &
purification is important
• Recovery methods: steam strippipng from
aqueous latices or by distillation from
solvent systems
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 Coagulation And Drying
• Finishing process consists of precipitating
rubber from latex emulsion or solvent
solution in crumb form, dried and
compressed into bale

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 Packaging
• Important factor since problems involving
adherence to package and contamination
resulting from inadequate protection and
tendency of rubber to flow and fail to retain
its shape
• Most rubber wrapped in polyethylene film

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 Rubber Compounding
• Pure rubber (natural/synthetic) not suitable
for use
• Desirable properties of plasticity, elasticity,
toughness, hardness or softness, abrasion
resistance, impermeability achieved by art
of compounding
• Table 36.7 – typical rubber compound
• Table 36.8 – rubber processing chemicals
according to their uses
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• Vulcanizing agents usu. Sulfur compounds react
with polymer to prod. Cross-linked material
• Accelerators reduce the time required for
vulcanization from several hrs to few mins &
contain nitrogen and sulfur
• Age resistors or antioxidants protect rubber
goods from attack by oxygen and ozone in
atmosphere
• Catalytic plasticizers or peptizers serve to
reduce viscosity of rubber to permit easier
processing

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 Rubber Fabrication
• Rubber may be spread, cemented, calendered,
molded, extruded, caulked, puttied, or wrapped
into virtually any shape: coated on cloth, plastic
or metal and sandwiched or forced into cracks
• Rubber extremely tough material
• Calendering/coating: coating fabric to make
waterproof ie. rolling rubber compound into
fabric on multiroll calender machines
• Molding: doughlike rubber compounds molded
into virtually any shape, retained by curing
compound in the mold, eg. tennis ball
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• Extruding: weatherstrip, hose, inner tubes,
tire treads, gaskets, channels and many
other rubber articles are fashioned by
extrusion of plastic compound, automobile
tire serves as an example

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