Carbon black production

The first commercial oil-fumace process was put into operation in 1943 by the Phillips Petroleum Co. in Borger, Texas. The oil-fumace blacks rapidly displaced all other types used for the reinforcement of mbber and today account for practically all carbon black production. In the oil-fumace process heavy aromatic residual oils are atomized into a primary combustion flame where the excess oxygen in the primary zone bums a portion of the residual oil to maintain flame temperatures, and the remaining oil is thermally decomposed into carbon and hydrogen. Yields in this process are in the range of 35 to 50% based on the total carbon input. A broad range of product quaHties can be produced. 

Roy, C., Chaala, A., and Darmstadt, H., The vacuum pyrolysis of used tires End-uses for oil and carbon black products, J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis, 5, 201, 1999. 

Since the price of both feedstocks and fuels, and thus, the profitability of the carbon black production processes, is highly dependent on the petrochemical indus-... 

Table 35. Carbon black production capacity in Europe (1995/96) ...

Such conditions with high carbon black levels would not occur under today s environment of carbon black production plants. Most of the carbon black producing countries have adopted the TLV (Threshold Limit Value) of USA of 3.5 mg/m3 [4.48]. Extensive sampling in a number of carbon black plants in Europe [4.49] provided the results that the occupational exposure standard (OES) for carbon black is 3.5 mg/m3 for an 8-hr TWA (time weighted average) and 7 mg/m3 for the shortterm exposure limit (STEL). 

The Figures 18 and 19 contain the results of all examined operating points of both series of measurements. The primary particle size from LII does not show systematic dependence on the DBP value which again is a standard evaluation technique in carbon black production (Figure 18). 

Among the 9 million tons of carbon black which are produced globally per year, only a small fraction of very specific, high-purity conductive carbon blacks can be used as conductive additive in lithium-ion batteries. A traditional conductive carbon is acetylene black, a special form of a thermal black produced by the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbon feedstock.74-75 The particularity of acetylene black to other thermal carbon black production is that the starting hydrocarbon, acetylene, exothermally decomposes above 800°C.75-77 Once the reaction is started, the acetylene decomposition autogenously provides the energy required for the cracking of acetylene to carbon followed by the synthesis of the carbon black ... 

A. Tesner, The Kinetics of Carbon Black Production VINITI Moscow (1 987)... 

The oil furnace process is the most common method of production today and is the source of over 95% of the total output of carbon black globally. In this process, a heavy aromatic fraction of petroleum distillate is atomized and sprayed into a furnace preheated to 1200-1900°C. The feedstock vaporizes and decomposes to form carbon black and combustion gases that are immediately cooled with a series of water sprays and heat exchangers to terminate the carbon black reaction and cool the carbon black product stream. The carbon black is separated from the combustion gases in bag filters and is conveyed for further densification either in pelletization processes or in agitator tanks (from which powdered, fluffy black is collected). 

Belmont JA, Galloway CP, Amici RM. (1998) Reaction of carbon black with diazonium salts, resultant carbon black products and their uses, US5851280. 

Belmont JA, Johnson JE, Adams CE. (1996) Ink jet ink formulations containing carbon black products, US5571311. 

Modern carbon black products are direct descendants of early lampblack , first produced in China over 3500 years ago. These early lampblacks were not very pure and differed greatly in their chemical composition from current carbon blacks. Since the mid-1970s most carbon black has been produced by the oil furnace process, which is most often referred to as furnace black. Table 4.1 contains selected information on carbon black. 

The lamp black process (Figure 4.7) is the oldest commercially used carbon black production process [4.8, 4.15]. 

The worldwide production capacity for carbon black in 1995 was estimated to be 7.3 10 t/a. Table 5.7 6 gives a survey of the carbon black production capacities in 1995 for different regions and countries. The value for Eastern Europe are uncertain. 

Three companies, Cabot, Degussa and Columbian Chemicals, account for 40 to 50% of the worldwide carbon black production capacity. 

Workers in aluminum production, coal gasification, coke production, iron and steel foundries, tar distillation, shale oil extraction, wood impregnation, roofing, road paving, carbon black production, carbon electrode production, chimney sweeping, and calcium carbide production are all exposed to PAHs and are known to have increased rates of lung cancer relative to the general population. I89 90 ... 

Carbon black, initially used as pigment in ink, has the longest history of all the materials discussed in this book. It was produced in China about 3000 B.C. and exported to Japan around 500 A.D. But only in the last 50 years has the technological development in both carbon black production and processing of rubber and polymers resulted in the tremendous variety of products which we know today. 

Therefore, hydrocarbon-containing materials have the potential to be used in carbon black production. Raw materials can be in the form of hydrocarbon gases, such as methane and acetylene, but mostly viscous residual aromatic hydrocarbons are used. Depending on chemical composition, the reaction is exo- or endothermic. Only when carbon black is produced from acetylene the reaction is exothermic and the process demands intensive cooling, whereas in other cases the reaction is endothermic and needs a substantial amount of energy in order to form carbon black. 

The Oil-Fumace Process is by far the most prevalent method of carbon black production. It is a further development of the Gas Furnace Process. A reactor is fed by liquid hydrocarbon feedstock which is injected, atomized, and mixed with preheated air and auxiliary fuel (usually natural gas). Part of the feedstock is used to maintain the reaction temperature (I450-1800°C) and the remainder is converted to... 

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