Manufacture of carbon black

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR MAKING FURNACE CARBONS BY THREMALLY DECOMPOSING CARBON-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS WHICH COMPRISES SPRAYING A LIQUID AROMATIC, CARBON-CONTAINING COMPOUND, HAVING A VAPOR VOLUME NOT EXCEEDING 5 CUBIC FEET (CALCULATED AT STANDARD TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE CONDITIONS) PER GALLON OF LIQUID, UPWARDLY INTO A VERTICALLY ELONGATED FURNACE CHAMBER, PASSING A GENTLY FLOWING CURRENT OF AIR UPWARDLY INTO THE LOWER END OF THE CHAMBER IN CONTACT WITH SAID SPRAY, THE PROPORTION OF OXYGEN SO SUPPLIED BY THE AIR BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THAT REQUIRED TO BURN ALL OF THE CARBON-CONTAINING MATERIAL SO INTRODUCED, BURNING A PORTION OF THE CARBON-CONTAINING MATERIAL IN THE LOWER END OF THE SAID CHAMBER AND THEREBY GENERATING HEAT AND COMBUSTION GASES AND CONSUMING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE FREE OXYGEN OF THE AIR, SO REGULATING THE QUANTITY OF AIR AND THE CARBON-CONTAINING MATERIAL SUPPLIED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID CHAMBER AS TO MAINTAIN IN THE CHAMBER ABOVE THE BURNING ZONE A NON-TURBULENT, SLOWLY RISING ATMOSPHERE OF REDUCING GASES, AT A TEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE CARBON-CONTAINING MATERIAL IS AT LEAST PARTIALLY VAPORIZED AS IT PASSES UPWARDLY AS A LIQUID SPRAY THROUGH THE REDUCING ATMOSPHERE TO FORM DENSE VAPORS, AND AT WHICH THE RESULTANT VAPORS ARE DECOMPOSED TO CARBON, AND AT AN UPWARD VELOCITY SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THAT AT WHICH THE DOWNWARD PULL OF GRAVITY ON THE DENSE VAPORS IS COUNTERACTED BY THE UPWARDLY RISING GASES, AND THEREBY CAUSING THE DENSE VAPORS TO DRIFT DOWNWARDLY IN THE CHAMBER, DECOMPOSING THE DOWNWARDLY DRIFTING VAPORS BY HEAT ABSORBED FROM THE HOT GASES TO FORM FLAKES OF CARBON IN GASEOUS SUBPENSION AND FLOATING THE CARBON FLAKES UPWARDLY, THROUGH, AND OUT OF, THE FURNACE CHAMBER IN THE UPWARDLY RISING FURNACE GASES.