Manufacturing rubber compositions with optional bypass

A system for producing rubber mixtures having expected properties, the system comprising:

• a plurality of rubber-mixture production installations, the production installations being arranged to perform monopassage rubber-mixture production processes and multipassage rubber-mixture production processes, each production installation being structured to execute at least one procedure of the rubber-mixture production processes;
• and
• a transport system that transports a mixture of rubber to one or more of the production installations sequentially according to a sequence of a rubber-mixture recipe selected for processing the mixture of rubber to have expected properties,
• wherein the production installations include a mixing and cooling installation that performs a mixing and cooling procedure, the mixing and cooling installation including:
• an external mixer including a pair of cylinders for forming the mixture of rubber into a sheet,
• a spray system including at least one spray rail positioned at each of an upper spray station and a lower spray station, each spray rail being in communication with a source for supplying water and air to one or more nozzles at a predetermined water flow rate and a predetermined air pressure, and
• an aspiration system including an aspiration hood positioned downstream of each spray rail, each aspiration hood being in communication with a source for evacuating air at a predetermined air flow rate, and
• wherein, during the mixing and cooling procedure, the mixing and cooling installation sprays the sheet with water and evacuates air containing evaporated water in order to cause the mixture of rubber of the sheet to reach a target temperature value and a target water-content value before a complementary mixing procedure is performed.

A method for producing rubber mixtures from selected recipes, the rubber mixtures having expected properties, the method comprising steps of:

• providing a system that includes:
• a plurality of rubber-mixture production installations, the production installations being arranged to perform monopassage rubber-mixture production processes and multipassage rubber-mixture production processes, each production installation being structured to execute at least one procedure of the rubber-mixture production processes, and
• a transport system that transports a mixture of rubber to one or more of the production installations according to a sequence of a rubber-mixture recipe selected for processing the mixture of rubber to have expected properties,
• wherein the production installations include a mixing and cooling installation that performs a mixing and cooling procedure, the mixing and cooling installation including:
• an external mixer including a pair of cylinders for forming the mixture of rubber into a sheet,
• a spray system including at least one spray rail positioned at each of an upper spray station and a lower spray station, each spray rail being in communication with a source for supplying water and air to one or more nozzles at a predetermined water flow rate and a predetermined air pressure, and
• an aspiration system including an aspiration hood positioned downstream of each spray rail, each aspiration hood being in communication with a source for evacuating air at a predetermined air flow rate, and
• wherein, during the mixing and cooling procedure, the mixing and cooling installation sprays the sheet with water and evacuates air containing evaporated water in order to cause the mixture of rubber of the sheet to reach a target temperature value and a target water-content value before a complementary mixing procedure is performed;
• processing a mixture of rubber at at least one of the production installations in a sequence according to a selected rubber-mixture recipe;
• and
• transporting, using the transport system, the mixture of rubber to a next one of the production installations in the sequence according to the selected rubber-mixture recipe.