Continuous Vulcanisation of Elastomer Profiles

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Rapra Review Reports, Vol. 8, No. 8, Report 92, 1997

By A. Hill, Meteor Gummiwerke K H Badje GmbH & Co.

The production of extruded rubber profiles via continuous vulcanisation is one of the most important procedures in the rubber industry in economic terms. The technology was first investigated in the 1940s and has continued to advance as new curing methods have been developed. However in spite of the commercial importance of the process and the wide variety of curing techniques it encompasses, relatively little has been published in the field. This report is intended to fill a perceived gap in the literature, providing a review of the principles of continuous vulcanisation together with details of the systems which are available commercially. References are provided throughout, drawing together the scientific literature and material published by the equipment suppliers. An indexed section containing several hundred key references and abstracts completes the report, enabling the reader to locate additional data on specific aspects of the process.

The review concentrates on elastomeric profiles used for applications such as vehicle window, boot and door seats; under the following headings:

• Hot air vulcanisation
• Radiation crosslinking
• Liquid curing medium processes, e.g. salt bath
• Infra-red heating
• The Helicure process
• Fluid-bed curing
• Microwave systems
• Shear head extrusion
• Extruders for continuous vulcanisation lines
• Extrusion dies
• Downstream equipment and operations
• On-line profile monitoring
• Environmental requirements