VRUBBER PROCESSING OILS
RPO
Petroleum oils ( Aromatic, Parrafinic & Naphtanic ) are used extensively in the manufacture of almost all rubber products, Depending on the end use & the type of polymers. It may be aromatic, paraffinic or naphthenic. They are acting as a processing aid for rubber. They perform following function.
- Facilitates mixing operations
- reduce the processing time
- reduce friction & heat development & thus impart processing safety.
- Minimize power consumption.
- modify physical properties of the finished products by proper reinforcement of filler particle in rubber.
- reduce cost of finished product.
RPO A :-
It is a dark coloured, heavily bodied predominantly aromatic type of Rubber Processing oil of ASTM D -101 type. It has better solvency than RPO B & RPO C due to higher aromatic content. It is preferred for the manufacture of automotive tyres, tread rubber, V-belts, battery boxes etc. It act as the processing aid for the incorporation of the fillers (such as corbon black) into the rubber. This oil is staining type of oil and is thus not recommended for the manufacture of light coloured rubber articles or for the manufacture of rubber articles where colour stability is an important criteria. Its ozone and heat resistance is lower than RPO A & RPO C due to the high aromatic content.
RPO B: - It is light coloured paraffinic type of oil and has good colour stability. It also has high flash point and good high temperature properties but it has low solvency.
It finds greatest use in butyl and ethylene propylene rubbers. It is recommended to be used for the processing of high coloured rubber goods such as white walled tyres, shoes, soles, Toys sporting goods etc.
RPO C:-This is napthenic type of oil and has fairly good colour stability with adequate high Temperature properties. It solvency is better than RPO B and is suitable as general purpose rubber oil. It is recommended for use in the manufacture of tyres, mats foot wear, moulded and extruded goods.
Typical Specification
Properties RPO A RPO B RPO C
Viscosity C st @ 40 0 - 33 21
Flash Point C O C 0 C 220 190 160
Aniline Point 0 C 48 96 75
Pour Point 0 C 30 0 0
Molecular Analysis
ASTM D 2007
Aspartames wt % - - -
Polar Compounds wt % 17 0.6 1.3
Aromatic wt % 73 20 47
Saturates wt % 10 79 50