Improvement Soot Particles Separation Equipments for Rubber Smoking Chamber

Abstract

Soot produced from rubber tree wood combustion during the process of drying natural rubber sheets has been shown to produce negative health effects for workers, as well as poorer quality rubber sheets. This study examined ways to improve soot particle separation equipment for rubber smoking chambers. An impaction wall was able to catch all soot particles ranging in size from 3.3-4.7 microns and a modified electrostatic precipitator, installed outside of the rubber smoking chamber in order to decrease danger to workers and with the highest available voltage supply of 12 kV, captured soot particles 0.43-3.3 microns in size. This modified precipitator operated longer than the usual time 120 hours or more before requiring cleaning; equivalent to smoking about 12 lots of rubber sheets or operating for 3 months during high rubber production season. The total efficiency of soot particle separation through the use of the modified collection equipment was more than 50% for all tests. In addition, the color index of rubber sheets used in the testing improved from 6.0 to 12.0. Coloration, which is a measure of quality, was better than sheets from smoking chamber lacking soot particle separation equipment.

Effect of Wood Vinegar Substitutes on Acetic Acid for Coagulating Natural Para Rubber Sheets during the Drying Process

“…The air speed conditions were set at 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 m/s [39,40]. The drying temperatures were 50, 60, and 70 • C [7,[39][40][41]. Each NR sheet was taken out of the drying room after different drying times to record the NR sheet moisture content by the method of ASAE [42] and the temperature using an infrared thermometer (Benetech, model GM-700, Guangdong, China).…”

“…Thailand is the largest country for NR production and exportation [6]. In 2019, 3.82 million metric tons (USD 1 billion) of Thai NR products were exported to the USA, China, India, and Japan [7]. NR products can be divided into four forms: ribbed smoked sheets (RSS), block rubber, concentrated latex, and miscellaneous other forms such as airdried sheets (ADS) of rubber [8][9][10].…”

Application of Electrostatic Precipitator in Collection of Smoke Aerosol Particles from Wood Combustion

“…It has a higher collection efficiency than the design from the previous work, in which the collection efficiency was reduced to about 40% under the dust-loaded condition . The collection efficiency of an ESP designed by Kalasee (2009) used for the same purpose was about 40-50%, and the cleaning system was not installed. Moreover, the cleaning mechanism designed in the present study can prolong the use of the ESP, and a dust-loaded condition can be avoided.…”

“…Numerous attempts have been made to use this method experimentally in order to collect aerosol particles in several applications (Zukeran et al, 1997;Kim and Lee, 1999;Jedrusik et al, 2001;Laskin and Cowin, 2002;Jedrusik et al, 2003;Kalasee et al, 2006;Srisang et al, 2006;Intra et al, 2007;Kalasee 2009;Intra et al, 2010). Extensive review of electrostatic devices for exhaust gas cleaning was provided by Jaworek et al (2007).…”

“…Although many attempts have been made to use the ESP for removal of aerosol particles from biomass combustion (Kalasee et al, 2003;Kocik et al, 2005;Tekasakul et al, 2006;Intra et al, 2007;Kalasee 2009;Intra et al, 2010), the collection efficiency and electrode cleaning mechanisms still need to be improved. Most of the devices are operated in dry condition where the collected particles can be removed by rapping or hammering.…”