A comparative study of rubber block properties produced by a novel rotary disc granulator and a conventional creper under different gap configurations

Natural rubber (NR) has gained a renewed attention as an eco-friendly material which have lower carbon footprints, particularly in comparison to synthetic rubbers. However, the production of block rubber from cup lump requires multiple cleaning steps to ensure quality control. These cleaning and drying processes contribute to more than 50% of the total carbon footprint of NR production. This study explores the use of a Rotary Disc Granulator (RDG) as a potential replacement for conventional creper and shredder machines in rubber block production. The modern processed rubber met all STR 20 specifications, exhibiting physical and mechanical properties comparable to those produced by the conventional method. Notably, the mechanical properties showed lower standard deviations (SD), indicating more consistent product quality. Moreover, the use of RDG significantly improved energy efficiency. Line production simulation revealed that a single RDG unit reduced energy consumption by 84.3% (from 502,850 kWh/month to 78,905 kWh/month), although this was accompanied by a 76.8% drop in productivity. To match conventional productivity, five RDG units were required while still achieving a 33.54% energy reduction. The specific energy consumption (SEC) dropped from 89.63 to 59.56 kWh/ton in this scaled-up scenario. These findings highlight the potential of the modern process with RDG to reduce energy usage in NR processing while maintaining product quality.