All about rubber treatment

It is impossible to imagine the life without rubber goods for modern civilization, and only old rubber, in particular used tyres, we seem to be iniquity. Meanwhile, the humanity could use rubber products as a source of energy.

In natural environment, the tire laid in a landfill is decomposed more than 100 years. Contact of the tire and water leads to toxic organic compounds leaching into the soil.

There are two key techniques of rubber treatment: mechanical and thermal. Mechanical processes is used for rubber crumb production or the product that does not differ dramatically from the feedstock in chemical properties.

The purpose of thermal treatment technologies is the use of power potential of rubber goods. By the standards of the USA, one tire is equivalent to 7 gallons of oil.

Mechanical methods of rubber conversion into crumb are quite advantageous. They provide the product, which is widely demanded in the market, practically without any additional treatment.

However, electromechanical technique has several disadvantages, the first of which is energy consumption. 1 m for fine-cut tyres requires from 500 to 900 kW of power. Furthermore, the coefficient of net operating time is not big, no more than 50-60% (in view of high equipment depreciation). A quick breakdown of the cutting equipment and the replacement of expensive knives (as required hardness of tool steel), together with low productivity results in very high cost of crumb rubber.

Thus, the interest in the rubber treatment increasingly focuses on the technology of thermal decomposition or pyrolysis, releasing the energy potential of rubber.

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Article ALL ABOUT TIRE RECYCLING is published in the journal Solid Waste № 8, 2015