Natural Rubber Powder Production from Latex

Abstract

Natural rubber-based products are widely used in everyday life. There are three types of upstream processed natural rubber, that are crumb rubber, conventional rubber, and concentrated latex. Latex is easily damaged by clotting and contains 35-40% w/w of water so that the packaging volume is relatively large and inefficient in transportation. Latex also contains ammonia as an anti-clotting agent so the packaging must be special to prevent unpleasant odour. This study aims to create a pilot plant of the spray drying latex from simulation results then test the performance, evaluate the performance test results, as well as making improvements to the production of rubber powder. The steps of this research are data collection for spray dryer design, design verification, construction of spray dryer, spray dryer appliance testing, and characterization of rubber powder produced. The heating system used in the spray dryer is LPG gas-fired furnace. Testing is done by varying the spray dryer drying air temperature of 120°C, 150°C, and 180°C, the water content of the feed latex 70% and 80% w/w, as well as non-stick material such as talc powder and MgO. Rubber powder characterized by water content with digital tools moisture meter and analysed spectra with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed the optimum operating conditions for the production of natural rubber powder is drying air temperature of 150°C and the water content of the feed latex 80% w/w. Natural rubber powder produced contains 10 to 13% w/w water but still sticky so that the powder grains stick to each other. The FTIR spectrum analysis of natural rubber powder products show similarity with bonding group of polyisoprene natural rubber compound. Natural rubber powder product can also be used as a substitute for crumb rubber.