Carbon Black

Carbon black is an essential industrial chemical used to impart special properties to finished goods. It is composed of nucleated clusters of elemental carbon adding color, UV stabilization, heat dissipation and anti-static properties to plastic films, electrical parts, inks, and strength and wearability to automotive tires to name a few of its ubiquitous applications.

The carbon black market is dominated by a handful of multi-national producers utilizing residual oils as the carbon source. An expert would need to understand the composition of residual oil and its combustion chemistry. Application experts would have to understand plastic processing and tire and rubber good manufacturing. On the supply chain and marketing side, an expert would need to understand which refineries can supply suitable residual oil as feedstock and what market segments need carbon black in their finished goods.

Customers who need these expertise are any plastics processor, compounder, or brand owner who produces black parts or tires and rubber goods. All the brand name tire producers, Michelin, Goodyear, Yokohama, etc.  There are programs to use pyrolysis oil and bio-sourced oil as feedstock as well as recycling tires for obtaining recycled carbon black. All the tire companies want to use “green or recycled” content in their products.

Large renewable energy and biochemical consulting firms like Lee Enterprises Consulting normally offer a wide range of services in biofuels, biochemicals, biotechnologies, biomaterials, synthetic biology commercialization, feedstocks, and hemp/cannabis.  These companies should have business and financial services like due diligence, feedstock availability, grants and loans and bio market research.  The company also offers technical and engineering related services like techno economic analysis, environmental evaluations, feasibility studies, risk analysis and expert witness engagements.   They might also have strategic partnerships in place to assist clients with insurance, legal, accounting, plant fabrication, feedstock procurement.  

With over 150 experts worldwide, Lee Enterprises Consulting has experts in many specific clean and renewable areas, including anaerobic digestion, fermentation, biomass, conversion technologies for things like tires and railroad ties, organic synthesis, fuel additives, ethanol gas, biodiesel fuel including algae biofuels, solid state and industrial fermentation, green energy grants, ag biotech, agricultural waste, alcohol fuels, alternative proteins and animal-free products, sustainable foods, beverage fermentation, biocatalysis, biodiesel conversion, biogas production, biomass power, carbon intensity, co2 utilization, combined heat & power, Fischer-Tropsch technology, food waste, hydrothermal carbonization, industrial enzymes, landfill management, microbial fermentation, organic synthesis, plastic pyrolysis, plastic recycling, plastic waste, pyrolysis oil, reactor design, renewable identification number, the Renewable Fuel Standard (rfs2), solid recovered fuels, torrefaction and torrefied biomass, waste to energy, and waste-to-hydrogen.   This is a multidisciplinary group of green energy consultants that is a virtual “one stop shop” for any client need and handles projects of all types and sizes.

Look at our experts and the services we provide.  Most of our experts are also available to advise and serve as expert witnesses in bioeconomy litigation matters.  For the larger projects, we specialize in putting together full service, interdisciplinary teams with one point of contact.  See video about LEC here.  Call us at 1+ (501) 833-8511 or email us for more information. See also: Carbon Capture and Carbon Intensity.