Preparation of carbon black

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR PREPARING A REINFORCING OIL FURNACE CARBON BLACK PRODUCT AND FOR CONTROLLING THE STRUCTURE VALUE OF SAID PRODUCT AS IT IS PRODUCED, SAID PROCESS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF; INTRODUCING A NORMALLY LIQUID HYDROCARBON FEEDSTOCK INTO A TUBULAR HEATING ZONE ALONG ITS AXIS AND THROUGH ONE END THEREOF AS A CONICAL SPRAY, SAID SPRAY DEFINING AN INCLUDED FEEDSTOCK SPRAY ANGLE; INTRODUCING A HYDROCARBON FUEL AND A COMBUSTION-SUPPORTING OXYGEN-BEARING GAS INTO SAID ONE END OF SAID HEATING ZONE AND DIRECTING A FLOW OF MIXTURE THEREOF SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY AWAY FROM SAID AXIS IN ALL DIRECTIONS; IGNITING SAID RADIALLY FLOWING MIXTURE WHEREBY A UNIFORMLY EXPANDING DISC-SHAPED BURNING STREAM IS FORMED, SAID DISCSHAPED BURNING STREAM BEING OUT OF INTIMATE CONTACT WITH SAID FLOW OF FEEDSTOCK; CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF FLOW OF SAID RADIALLY FLOWING BURNING STREAM SO THAT IT FLOWS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID AXIS TOWARD THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID HEATING ZONE AND THEN INWARDLY TOWARDS SAID AXIS AS IT APPROACHES SAID OPPOSITE END OF SAID HEATING ZONE; MIXING SAID FEEDSTOCK IN THE RESULTANT STREAM OF COMBUSTION PRODUCTS AND PASSING THE RESULTANT MIXTURE INTO A REACTION ZONE, SAID FEEDSTOCK BEING THERMALLY DECOMPOSED TO CARBON BLACK; RECOVERING THE RESULTANT CARBON BLACK PRODUCT; CONTROLLING PROCESS CONDITIONS, INCLUDING THE RATES OF INTRODUCTION OF SAID FEEDSTOCK, HYDROCARBON FUEL AND COMBUSTION-SUPPORTING OXYGEN-BEARING GAS FOR PRODUCING A GRADE OF CARBON BLACK HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SURFACE AREA AND MEAN PARTICLE SIZE OF A MEMBER OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HAF, ISAF, AND SAF CARBON BLACKS; AND, WHILE CONTINUING TO CONTROL PROCESS CONDITIONS AS AFORESAID, WHEREBY THE PARTICLE SIZE OF THE CARBON BLACK PRODUCT BEING PRODUCED BY THE PROCESS REMAINS SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT, VARYING THE INCLUDED ANGLE OF THE FEEDSTOCK SPRAY TO A VALUE NO GREATER THAN ABOUT 180* FOR CONTROLLING THE STRUCTURE OF SAID CARBON BLACK PRODUCT.