Modernization of capture and aspiration systems in production of dusty carbon black

Abstract

The article deals with addressing an actual problem of improving the dust collection equipment used in carbon black production. Carbon black (CB), widely used in rubber and other industries, is produced by pyrolysis in the form of an aerosol, however, its efficient capturing is considered as a difficult engineering problem. The issues of imperfection of the current equipment and technological design for capturing dusty CB by cyclone devices are discussed, and trends and prospects for the development of alternative production processes and dust collection equipment are reviewed. For the purpose of optimal choice of the design of the dust collector for the systems for CB capturing, a decision version of the problem is proposed using devices with counter-swirling flows (CSF). The principal calculated dependencies for determining the efficiency of CB capturing by cyclones versus CSF apparatuses are presented, a comparative mathematical modeling of their performance is carried out and the results are analyzed. The results of calculations show that the use of a group of two CSF devices in the production of CB instead of the currently applied cyclone type apparatus would result in significant increase in the overall capturing efficiency (92% versus ~64%), decrease in the load on the post-collection and aspiration systems by 20–30%, reduction of metal consumption and hydraulic resistance, and improvement of operational reliability. This will lead to an increase in the cost-effectiveness of the CB production with simultaneous improvements in its safety and environmental friendliness.