MARDEC INDUSTRIAL LATEX SDN. BHD. (MIL)

TEAMMATE: NUR FARAHNEZAHPUTERI NURAIN AL ZIKRI NURUL IZYAN PUTERI NURROBIAHMUHAMMAD HANIF

INTRODUCTION TO MIL• MARDEC Industrial Latex Sdn. Bhd. (MIL) is the only

Latex Concentrate factory owned by MARDEC Bhd. in Malaysia.• Their main operations are purchasing of field latex

from smallholders and other sources, processing and selling it to either locally or oversea.• MIL produce both main products and by products. • There are four main products produced by MIL : (i) Latex concentrate grade High Ammonia (HA), (ii) Medium Ammonia (MA) (iii) Low Ammonia (LA) (iv) MATEX 133L (special grade of the company)

PRODUCT FROM MARDEC• There are four main products produced by

MIL which are latex concentrate grade:• High Ammonia (HA)• Medium Ammonia (MA)• Low Ammonia (LATZ),• MATEX 133L (special grade of the

company). Latex Concentrate

CONT… INTRODUCTION• Besides, there are three

by products produced by MIL:

(i) Skim blocks (ii) Crepe (iii) Skim Reject Rubber

(SKRR).

SKRR Crepe

SMR CV 60

PROCESS FLOW

1. PRESERVATIVE PREPARATION

• Preservative preparation includes chemical addition of ammonia and TMTD.• Each one tan of field latex will be added with

20 kg of chemical consists of 19 kg of ammonia and 1 kg of TMTD.

2. FIELD LATEX COLLECTION

• The first thing that needs to be considered is about the field upkeep. The utensils’ must always keep clean to prevent any contamination to the latex.• The second thing is the preservative distribution which

ammonia and TMTD were added into the latex during the distribution process. The preservative addition of ammonia and TMTD must be added in correct amount as soon as possible to prevent the latex from coagulate.• The latex must be collected according to the schedule, which

is a very important thing that must to take serious as the latex tends to coagulate if it was left for a long time in the cups.• There will be some people who responsible to monitor the

smallholders compliance for quality standard.

3. RECEPTION

• During reception, the latex will be weighted and some latex will be taken as sample for required tests such as:

(i) Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) (ii) Dry Rubber Content (DRC) (iii) Ammonia (NH3) (iv) Total Solid Content (TSC).

4. BULKING

• The field latex was discharged into a bulking tank.• The chemicals that need to be added are: (i) Diammonium Hydrogen (ii) Phosphate (DAHP) (iii) Lauric acid• The retention period before processing to allow

desludging activity must be at least 8 hours.• Before running centrifugation process, there are three

testing that need to be done before processing which are Total Solid Content (TSC), Ammonia (NH3), and Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA). The machine will be set up according to the parameters testing result.

5. PROCESSING OF FIELD LATEX

• There are four main products of MARDEC Industrial Latex which are latex concentrate grade High Ammonia (HA), Medium Ammonia (MA), Low Ammonia (LATZ), and another one is MATEX 133L (special grade of the company).• Besides, there are three by products such as skim

blocks, crepe and Skim Reject Rubber (SKRR). • 90% of field latex will produce latex concentrate, which

is main product while 10% will remains as by products.

5.1 MAIN PRODUCT - LATEX CONCENTRATE (HA, MA, LA, MATEX)

• There are 4 types of latex concentrate which are: (i) High Ammonia (HA) - preserved with 0.7% ammonia (ii) Medium Ammonia (MA) - preserved with 0.5%

ammonia (iii) Low Ammonia (LA / LATZ) - preserved with 0.25%

ammonia together with a secondary preservative which is zinc oxide and tetra methyl thiuram disulphide (TZ)

(iv) MATEX 133L (LA67) MATEX 133L (LA67) is a type of Low Ammonia High Total Solid Latex Concentrate which suitable for the foam, thread and adhesive industry. MATEX has a dry rubber content of 60% which is a technically specified high quality raw material for manufacturing purposes.

CONT…

• The latex concentrate was produced by using centrifugation process. • The field latex (contain average 30% DRC) will undergoes

centrifugation process that will remove water presence in it, thus produce latex concentrate (contain 60% to 65% DRC).

• Testing of TSC for each machine was required as according to the quality control.

• After every cycle of latex concentrate production, all bowls must be cleaned to ensure that they are free from sludge and latex leftover.

• The centrifugation process was carried out by using Alfa Laval Machine that consists of two models which are 410 and 510.

5.1.1 LATEX CONCENTRATE (LC) STORAGE (90%)

• After latex concentrate was produced, it will be stored in a tank for maturation. • In the tank, it will be preserved by the addition of

lauric acid and NH3 (HA). • After that, it must be kept stirring to form

homogeneity.• It will be monitored daily by using some required

test such as DRC, TSC VFA, and MST.

5.1.2 Delivery

• After it becomes matured enough, it is ready to be delivered to customers.

5.2 BY PRODUCT (SMR BLOCK, CREPE, SKRR)

• As mentioned before that 90% of field latex will produce latex concentrate, which is main product while 10% will remains as by products. • SMR block, crepe, and Skim Reject Rubber

(SKRR) are among the by products that are produced by MIL. • These by products are produced to make

sure that 100% of field latex was completely used.

5.2.1 Delivery

• When the by products are completely produced according to the requirements that ask by customers, they are ready to be sent to the customers.

MECHANISM OF CENTRIFUGATION 

Latex Concentrate 60%-65% of

DRC

Field Latex 30% of DRC

Skim Latex 4% to 5%of

DRC

The separations of the fractions occur due to the gravity. The separation is based on the density of the latex

concentrate which is lower than the density of the skimmed latex.

In MIL, they used the centrifuge machine with 7000RPM. The concentrate latex and skimmed latex are flow in

different channel as shown in the above figure.

MACHINES USED• There are two model of machines that used by MIL

company which are Alfa Laval 410 and Alfa Laval 510• Alfa Laval 410 is better in maintenance compared

to Alfa Laval 510 due to its cheap cost.• Alfa Laval 510 is much better because it can

produces 360 kg of latex concentrate in one cycle while Alfa Laval 410 can only produces 320 kg.

Alfa Laval 510

MACHINES USED

• Machines run for 3 hours non-stop to complete a cycle of centrifugation process. • After completed a cycle, they need to be cleaned

before we can run a new cycle.• Each of the plates will be separated and washed

with plenty of water. • These are to prevent any contamination during the

processing

TESTING

• VFA No. • KOH No.• Alkalinity• Mechanical Stability Time (MST)• Total Solid Content (TSC)• Dry Rubber Content (DRC)

VFA NO.• The VFA number is defined as the number of grams of

potassium hydroxide equivalent to the volatile fatty acid contained in 100g of total solids• It is determined by steam distilled rubber tree latex

serum and estimating the volatile acid distilled with barium hydroxide

Significance• Higher VFA number indicates an

inadequate preservation of NR latex and the destabilization process begin. The addition of preservation is necessary.

KOH No.• The KOH no is defined as the number of grams of

potassium hydroxide equivalent to acid radicals combined with ammonia in latex containing 100g of solid. • Calculation KOH NO:

(561 x N x V) ÷ (W x TSC)N = normality of KOHV = volume of end point (should be less than 1)W = weight of latexTSC = total solid content

Significant• A high KOH no. with high VFA no. indicates inadequate

preservation of latex.

ALKALINITY• The other testing is the determination of alkalinity.

The significance of this test is it indicates whether latex is well preserve or not. Low alkalinity are usually due to loss of ammonia through vents in tanks or drums

CalculationAlkalinity = [ (0.017 x TV x N) ÷ W ] x 100TV = total volume of sulphuric acidN = normality of sulphuric acid

ALKALINITY

Significance• NH3 content use as indication of latex

whether it is well preserve or not. High alkalinity indicate latex well preserve or vice versa.• Low alkalinity are usually due to loss of

ammonia through vent in tank or drums.

Mechanical Stability Time (MST)

• This testing measure the colloidal stability of latex concentrate. It is determined by the measure of resistance of the latex particles to irreversible flocculation or coagulation when subjected to mechanical stirring. • Cause in increasing in MST

o increasing content of higher fatty acid soaps with time arising from the hydrolysis of some lipids.

o Due to these soaps are absorbed on the surface of the latex particles, this lead to higher surface electrical charge density, greater particle repulsion and hence higher MST.

• Using ASTM D1076 – 06 : sec 17 and ISO 35 : 2004 standard.

Total Solid Content (TSC)

• Method for determination of TSC of NR latex which contains preservative agents and which has been submitted to some type of concentration process.• TSC CALCULATION• TSC = (m1 / m0) x 100

• Where m1 = mass in gram of dried sheet

• M0 = mass in gram of test portion.Significance.

• It indicates the concentration of latex including the TSC and non rubber content.

DRY RUBBER CONTENT (DRC)• Method for determination of DRC of NR latex which

contains preservative agent and which has been submitted to some type of concentration process.• Calculation of DRC.• TSC = (m1 / m0) x 100

• Where m1 = mass in gram of dried sheet

• m0 = mass in gram of test portion

Significance • It measures the actual rubber content from the latex. Then

the chemicals can be added based on the DRC value.

PARAMETERS THAT AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF LATEX

• Keep a high standard of cleanliness of all vessels, collection tanks, storage tanks, and other utensils both in field and factory.• Latex should be stable free from pre-coagulation.

(VFA number between 0.01 – 0.03 number).• Disinfection of tanks and pipelines with

disinfectants such as formaldehyde, should be made compulsory soon after washing.

THAT’S ALL, THANK YOU.

“Together We Bond, Together We Succeed.” ^_^