Rubber preparation

One of the major areas of consumption of steam in the tyre production process is rubber  preparation. During this, the chemical coated nylon tyre cord needs to be dried with several drying cylinders using steam.

For the drying process Spirax can support you with Pressure Reducing Valves or Pressure Reducing Stations, Spiratec Steam Trap Monitors, Temperature Control System and a stainless steel flexible hose pipes.

Often the condensate is just drained away, which is of course a loss of the valuable heat energy stored in the hot water. Save your money and install a proper condensate recovery system by installing a Pressure Powered Pump.

Curing section

For the curing process the prepared tyres (called Green tyres) are loaded centered on the bladder assembly and they are heated there for a certain time. The time and the temperature measurement are essential for the functioning of curing of the tyres. The temperature has to be held constant over the whole time, the problem hereby is that the temperature cannot be measured inside the mould. The solution is to carefully monitor the temperature of the condensate, therefore the best way is to use a Spiratec R 2 T unit.

The bladder is shaped by low and also high pressure steam, before the different pipe rows an Pressure Reducing Station should be fitted.

Air could be dangerous for the rubber, so a Thermodynamic Steam Trap with internal blowdown cock should be used for the bladder.

For the condensate removal from Bagomatic press and platen press Ball Float Steam Traps are useful, which should be monitored by a Spiratec steam trap monitoring system.

After the curing there will be rubber particles in the condensate. Because of this the use of Strainers is needed, the screen can then be cleaned manually in regularly intervals.

A Pressure Powered Pump can lift the condensate, and flash steam for the condensate tank can be generated in a Flash Vessel. The best way to heat the tank with flash steam is to use a flash condensing Deaerator Head.

Platen type curing process

This process is used to cure smaller sized tyres, for example tyres for scooters or motorbikes etc. Here steam heats solid parts.

Because the condensate load is less, Ball Float Steam Traps and Thermodynamic Steam Traps  had proved to be best in this situation.

Tube curing process

The tube curing process works with high pressure steam. There are no draining facilities, the steam is just blown out.

The monitoring of the temperature is important for a successful curing. Spirax can help you with Ball Float Steam Traps, Spiratec Steam Trap monitors, Flash Vessel, Flash Condensing Deaerator Head and Pressure Powered Pumps.