Pelleting of carbon black

Claim 1

A DRY PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PELLETS OF CHAIN STRUCTURE CARBON BLACK WHICH ARE SUFFICIENTLY HARD TO WITHSTAND BULK SHIPMENT, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF INTRODUCING UNSIZED DRY CARBON BLACK PELLETS AS SUBSEQUENTLY PRODUCED AND CONTAINING ALL SIZES OF PELLETS INTO THE INLET END OF AN ELONGATED, HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED HOLLOW CYLINDER HAVING AN INLET END AND AN OUTLET END WITH RESPECT TO CARBON BLACK FLOW, INTRODUCING DRY FLOCCULENT CHAIN STRUCTURE CARBON BLACK INTO SAID CYLINDER AT AN INTERMEDIATE POINT BUT RELATIVELY CLOSER TO SAID INLET END, MAINTAINING THE CARBON BLACK IN THE CYLINDER AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 175* AND 300* F., ROTATING SAID HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED HOLLOW CYLINDER AROUND ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS AT AN OPTIMUM RATE FOR PELLET FORMATION, WITHDRAWING CARBON BLACK PELLETS OF A MIXTURE OF SIZES UP TO 1/8 INCH IN DIAMETER FROM THE OUTLET END OF SAID CYLINDER, DIVIDING SAID PELLETED CARBON BLACK INTO TWO PORTIONS, EACH PORTION CONTAINING SAID MIXTURE OF SIZES OF PELLETS UP TO 1/8 INCH IN DIAMETER, RECYCLING ONE PORTION TO THE INLET END OF THE HOLLOW CYLINDER AS THE CARBON BLACK PELLETS SUBSEQUENTLY PRODUCED AT SUCH A RATES AS TO MAINTIAN A RECYCLE RATE OF AT LEAST 1/2 TO 1 AND PASSING THE OTHER PORTION OF SAID CARBON BLACK PELLETS CONTAINING ALL SIZES OF PELLETS UP TO 1/8 INCH IN DIAMETER INTO THE INLET END OF AN ELONGATED, HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL VESSEL HAVING AN INLET END AND AN OUTLET END WITH RESPECT TO THE FLOW OF CARBON BLACK, ROTATING THIS CYLINDRICAL VESSEL AROUND ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS AT A SPEED GREATER THAN THE MAXIMUM RATE OF ROTATION FOR PELLET FORMATION, AND WITHDRAWING CARBON BLACK PELLETS FROM THE OUTLET END OF SAID CYLINDRICAL VESSEL AS THE PRODUCT OF THE PROCESS.