How carbon black is made
Carbon black is soot made on purpose, and about 70% of it goes into tires.
- stations
- 5
- things upstream
- 3
- raw sources
- 3
- step from the ground
- 1
The short version
Carbon black is made by spraying heavy oil into a very hot reactor with too little air for the oil to burn completely. The oil breaks down into tiny carbon particles. A water spray cools the smoke, bag filters catch the black powder, and a pelletizer rolls it into beads so it can be shipped without dust.
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Preheat the heavy oil
Heavy oil left over from refining or ethylene cracking is warmed until it flows easily. The more aromatic the oil, the more carbon black it yields.
Goes in -
Spray it into a starved flame
The oil is atomized into a reactor whose walls are glowing hot, with a limited supply of air. With too little oxygen to burn, the droplets crack into particles of carbon.
Goes in -
Quench the smoke
A spray of water stops the reaction at exactly the right moment. When the quench comes decides how big the particles are.
Goes in -
Filter the black from the gas
The smoke passes through cyclones and bag filters that catch the fluffy black powder. The leftover gas is often burned to make power.
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Bead and dry the powder
Fluffy powder is tumbled with water in a pelletizer so it clumps into small beads, which are then dried. Beads flow cleanly and do not make clouds of dust.
Worth repeating
- Carbon black also helps conduct heat away from the tread of a tire and extends its life.
- Lamp black, the oldest form, was made by collecting soot from oil lamps.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and carbon black starts as these 3 raw sources.
Where it goes next
Carbon black feeds 13 lines directly and reaches 200 things in total.
Further down the line
Keep walking
Sources
Cite this page: "How carbon black is made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/carbon-black