In his Address to the people of Kazakhstan on September 1, 2021, the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev called the most important task - the full disclosure of the country's industrial potential.
In Kazakhstani society, the opinion has been established that domestic production is uncompetitive in our country, but scientists of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University categorically disagree with this. So in 2014, on the basis of the work carried out under the GSNS project "Creation of pilot production of nanostructured carbon-containing materials for chemical-technological processes'' under the guidance of Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Nauryzbaev M.K. the production of innovative nanostructured carbon-containing materials with a capacity of 2000 tons per year was launched. The production includes two industrial facilities: a crushing and screening complex at the shungite deposit in the East Kazakhstan region and a pilot site for the production of carbon-containing materials and active coals in the Almaty region. In 2020, within the framework of grant financing of projects for the commercialization of the results of scientific and scientific and technical activities of the Science Foundation JSC, on the basis of the Center for Physical and Chemical Analysis Methods of KazNU and AIM Lab LLP, the production of rubber and plastic products was launched using a previously developed innovative reinforcing filler - shungite.
The Center for Physical and Chemical Methods of Research and Analysis is the leading multidisciplinary research organization in Kazakhstan. CFHMA develops new chemical technologies for obtaining and analyzing substances and materials from mineral and vegetable raw materials. AIM Lab LLP is a research and production center that is engaged in scientific research and the introduction of innovative developments into production. One of the areas of work of AIM Lab LLP is the development and production of high-quality carbon materials based on a natural mineral - shungite, as well as vegetable raw materials.
Shungite is a specific carbon-bearing rock, which is an alternative source of raw materials for the production of rubber and plastic products. The dumps of shungite rocks of the Bakyrchik deposit (reserves of more than 30 million tons) are waste products from the extraction of polymetallic ores, as a result of which, research, processing of shungite rocks, as well as obtaining a useful product based on it will ensure the rational use of raw materials.
The industrial site for the pilot production of rubber and plastic products using shungite is located in the Karasai district, Almaty region. Production includes two main areas:
1) production of rubber products (wiper rings, irrigation pipes (hoses) of various diameters and seals for a wide range of applications, etc.);
2) obtaining plastic products (boxes of various sizes for transporting and storing vegetables, fruits, berries, etc.).
KazNU scientists set the task of developing, optimizing and improving the formulations of rubber and plastic products. Formulations for the manufacture of rubber and polymer composite products were developed taking into account the impact of external factors, strength, wear resistance, ability to withstand significant pressure, frost resistance, product feasibility, minimal susceptibility to deformation, creases and twisting. In terms of physical and mechanical characteristics, the products obtained on the basis of the developed recipes meet all the main standards of the finished commercial product. It was found that as the amount of shungite concentrate in the composition of mixtures increases, the physical and mechanical characteristics improve: elongation at break, conditional tensile strength, relative residual elongation.
Within the framework of the project, two pilot production lines were operating:
- a line for the production of rubber products by the method of vulcanization in an autoclave, which includes 3 main units:
1. heating rollers, designed for mixing rubber with various ingredients, for the preparation and sheeting of rubber mixtures;
2. single-worm rubber processing machine for molding finished products;
3. horizontal autoclave with direct heating for further vulcanization of the obtained products.
The productivity of this line is more than 200 tons/year of rubber products, which opens up additional great opportunities for the implementation of the project and reduces the cost of finished products. The plastic products production line consists of one main unit and a large number of auxiliary equipment.
The design capacity of the production of plastic products, using the example of plastic boxes for the transport and storage of fruits and vegetables, is 150,000 pieces per year. The project provides for individual and in-line production methods. The resulting high-quality rubber hoses can be used for watering gardens, fields, for transporting gas, as various pipe connections. Rubber seals are widely used in the manufacture of plastic windows and doors and for sealing rooms. Plastic crates have a wide range of uses for transporting and storing various items, including food. According to the results of 2021, sales of innovative products amount to more than 35 million tenge.
Rustam TOKPAEV, PhD head of the laboratory of sorption and catalytic processes
Azhar ATCHABAROV, PhD, head of the laboratory of hydroelectromechanical CFHMA processes
