US Patent 7858735 Method and apparatus for elastomer finishing

In the production of elastomers the product obtained from the polymerization process is often in the form of a slurry. Described herein are an apparatus and a process for “finishing” the elastomer, i.e., dewatering and drying the elastomer. The process comprises the steps of obtaining a slurry comprising water and elastomer; passing the slurry through a first dewatering device to produce a wet elastomer crumb, wherein the first dewatering device comprises two dewatering extruders in parallel; passing the wet elastomer crumb through a second dewatering device; and then passing the wet elastomer crumb through a drying device to produce a dried elastomer crumb.