7.2.1.1 Thermal oxidative decomposi

7.2.1.1 Thermal oxidative decomposition processes
Furnace black is the newest but also overwhelmingly the predominant
process. Liquid feedstock is atomized, sprayed into a flame inside a ceramic-lined
furnace, and then quenched, cooled, and filtered. The process offers technical
and economic advantages, with the facility to produce a wide range of types,
with adjustment of particle size and specific surface area. Particle aggregation
can also be controlled by addition of very small amounts of an alkali metal salt.
Particle size ranges from 10 to 100 [im. Black made by this process has a very low
bulk density and is difficult to handle in this form. It is therefore pelletized or
further densified. Wet-pelleting enables carbon black to be converted with water