Rubber sheets are a common material we see in our daily lives, and their existence makes our lives more convenient. But do you know how these rubber sheets are made? Let’s take a look at the process of making rubber sheets together.
We need to sort and clean the raw materials. Just like selecting and washing ingredients before cooking, the raw materials for making rubber sheets also need to go through this step. We classify waste tires, etc. and then wash them. The sedimentation of the washing water can be recycled, and the mud and sand can be treated as solid waste. This step is both environmentally friendly and effective in preventing the inclusion of mud and sand that could affect product quality.
Next is the process of pulverizing and wind selection, magnetic selection. We use pulverizers to pulverize the waste rubber to obtain the required rubber granules. The particulate matter generated during pulverizing is collected by a collecting hood, bag filter dust collector, and regularly cleaned dust collector, and the collected rubber granules are reused. Then, the pulverized waste rubber granules are conveyed by a conveyor to a cyclone separator and a magnetic separator to separate the canvas and other fiber impurities and the steel wires in the tires.
Next is the screening and desulfurization process.
After vibrating the screen, the qualified rubber powder falls through the screen and the unqualified rubber powder is collected separately for re-grinding. During the screening process, a small amount of waste canvas and steel wire will also be separated out. The screened rubber powder is then subjected to dynamic desulfurization. Desulfurization is a key step in the production of regenerated rubber, which transforms the rubber powder from an elastic state to a plastic state, making it easier to process later on.
Finally, cooling and calendering are carried out. The rubber powder needs to be cooled immediately after desulfurization to prevent it from catching fire and carbonizing. After cooling, the rubber powder is then calendered to produce the rubber sheet. And thus, a rubber sheet is born.
This is the process of making rubber sheets. Although it may seem simple, the scientific and technological content involved is actually very high.