Rubber Manufacturing

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Humans have been creating and using rubber since as early as 1600 BC. Early indigenous Mesoamerican communities used rubber balls made from stabilized rubber for sports. This strong, stable rubber was also used for waterproofing, containers, and other functional purposes. 

Hundreds of years later, in 1839, Charles Goodyear rediscovered the vulcanization process when he dropped natural rubber on a hot stove. The rubber stabilized as it heated through, giving us the basis of today’s vulcanization process. 

Today, society relies on synthetic and natural rubber to meet many needs—from transportation to medical and beyond. The process for creating each type of rubber varies widely. 

Kent Elastomer Products is the only company to domestically manufacture natural rubber latex tubing. Because it is so often manufactured overseas, many companies require long lead times on natural rubber orders. KEP is proud to manufacture natural rubber latex in the U.S.A. for shorter lead times and higher quality products. 

Read on to learn about the steps to creating a rubber product and the machinery required to bring them to life. 

How Are Rubber Products Made?

The answer to that question depends on the type of rubber you are making. Natural rubber latex begins from a rubber tree, found mostly in South America and Southeast Asia. Synthetic rubber, on the other hand, begins with a base of petrochemicals which are processed in a lab. 

Below is a more in depth look at the ways natural and synthetic rubber are made. 

Natural Rubber Latex 

The rubber manufacturing process begins at the point of harvesting latex from a rubber tree. Professional tappers extract latex sap from the trees. The sap is then filtered and packaged into drums, which are sent to a factory to be processed into slabs using an acidic additive. 

Next comes prevulcanization. Chemical treatments and low, slow heating prepares the latex sheets to be vulcanized. Vulcanization follows, during which additional intense heating hardens the rubber for use in applications that require hard, durable rubber. 

Synthetic Rubber

Unlike natural rubber, which begins with the natural latex sap of a rubber tree, synthetic rubber begins with a blend of petrochemicals in a lab or factory. These chemicals include neoprene (polychloroprene) and emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber (E-SBR). E-SBR is the synthetic rubber used to create most vehicle tires.

Additional ingredients for synthetic rubber include oil, coal, and other hydrocarbons. These are all refined to produce a substance called naphtha. Naphtha is then combined with natural gas to create monomers. These monomers include butadiene, styrene, isoprene, chloroprene, ethylene, or propylene. 

Once the monomers are created, a catalyst is introduced to the substance in order to initiate polymerization. This creates chains of polymers, giving us synthetic rubber. If needed, the rubber is then further vulcanized using the same methods used to vulcanize natural rubber. 

The Machinery Used in Rubber Manufacturing

Rubber manufacturing companies need to have a strong lineup of heavy machinery in order to create high quality rubber. Two of the most crucial rubber manufacturing machines are the rubber mixer and hydraulic press. 

• Rubber Mixer

Rubber mixers come in many sizes from five liters to 110 liters. These heavy duty batch mixers are made to powerfully combine the raw materials needed to make rubber.

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• Hydraulic Press

Hydraulic presses also come in smaller and larger sizes. These machines are designed to apply incredible amounts of pressure to compress materials. In rubber manufacturing, this is ideal when flattening natural latex into sheets or molding rubber into the desired shape for its end application. 

Kent Elastomer Products Makes Natural Rubber Latex for You

Need a custom natural rubber latex product made quickly? Kent Elastomer Product is here to bring your innovations to life. We manufacture your natural rubber latex products here in the United States, so you can count on high quality rubber, excellent customer services, and unmatched turnaround times. 

Our natural rubber latex manufacturing process is tried and true. Bring us your ideas, and we will work with you to make sure your custom product is quickly created to your exact specifications.

Interested in natural rubber latex manufacturing with KEP? Click here to learn more. 

NATURAL RUBBER

Natural rubber is strong and flexible and protects against wear and tear, such as abrasion, fatigue, and exposure to water and certain chemicals. Natural rubber also adheres well to other materials, ideal for making enforced products, such as tires.

Natural rubber has a decent service temperature range, but there may be better choices for extreme heat, harsh lighting, or ozone exposure. Additionally, natural rubber is not highly resistant to fuel, oil, and other substances.

WHAT IS NATURAL RUBBER USED FOR?

Natural rubber can be found in thousands of products, from industrial components to everyday consumer items. These products may include hoses and belts, medical devices, protective gloves, and children’s toys.

The tire industry consumes a significant portion of the world’s natural rubber supply. Natural rubber is often found in high-performance vehicle tires because of its excellent tear strength, even at high temperatures caused by friction. Aircraft, heavy truck, and race car tires are often made from natural rubber.

The tire isn’t the only vehicle part that contains natural rubber. Brake pads, airbags, seals, and other automotive components also rely on rubber’s desirable properties to serve essential functions while the vehicle is in service.

WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS USED TO MAKE NATURAL RUBBER?

Every natural rubber product will have a slightly different composition profile based on its service environment. An essential natural rubber recipe includes:

• Latex – a milky white substance harvested from the rubber tree.
• Acids – to trigger clumping of filtered latex.
• Chemicals – for the prevulcanization process.
• Additives – such as fillers, curing agents, antidegradants, and more.

Industrial Applications of Natural Rubber

Most of today’s natural rubber supply comes from a single species of rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. Hevea brasiliensis is native to South America, but Hevea brasiliensis plantations can be found all over Southeast Asia. Some major companies are experimenting with making rubber from other plants, but Hevea brasiliensis remains the primary source.

How is rubber made? The first step of the natural rubber production process is harvesting. Rubber trees must be at least six years old before being tapped. Once the tree reaches maturity, a tapper peels back a carefully cut section of the tree’s bark, which disrupts the plant ducts and releases latex, a milky white substance. The latex flows along the grooves of the peeled-back panel and is collected in cups or bags. Rubber tappers then contain all the harvested latex and transport it for processing.

The freshly harvested latex is filtered and packaged into drums. At this stage, acid is added to the latex, which forms clumps. This clumpy fluid is rolled into sheets at a mill, which removes water and prepares the material for drying and smoking.

Next, the latex sheets are treated with chemicals and low, gentle heating, a process called prevulcanization. Stabilizers and other ingredients may be introduced at this stage, depending on the desired final properties of the rubber. Further heating transforms the sheets into a firm, black material that most people recognize as rubber. At this stage, the rubber can be molded, shaped, or otherwise processed into a final product.

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