Determination of aerobic and anaerobic biological degradability of waste tyres

Abstract

Environmental contamination of rubber from waste tyres poses a risk to the environment. Rubber particles from tyres enter the environment due to the abrasiveness of the road surface. The aim of the scientific work was to observe the biological degradability of waste tyres in aquatic environment and its ecotoxicity. Biodegradability was observed under aerobic and anaerobic conditions that simulate both aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the aquatic natural environment. Aerobic conditions in the aquatic environment take place in flowing fresh water, sea water, lakes. Leachate was prepared to simulate the behaviour of tyres in an aqueous environment. Aerobic degradability was evaluated through complete biodegradability using a 301 F manometric respirometry test. Anaerobic biodegradability was evaluated by measuring biogas production using OECD 311 Anaerobic Biodegradability of Organic Compounds in Digested Sludge. For a better simulation of the natural environment, the pH of the leachates from the tyres was adjusted to a neutral range. It should be noted that standard degradability tests were extended by 7 days due to low biodegradability. Adjusting the pH during the biodegradability test is also a modification of the original test. This modification was used to better simulate biodegradability when the pH of tyres in the natural environment is reduced by acid rain. An essential part of monitoring the behaviour of waste tyres was the assessment of ecotoxicity using standard tests. The contribution of the scientific article lies in the evaluation of the course of decomposition in aerobic and anaerobic conditions with and without pH adjustment and in the use of modified biodegradability tests. The benefit of the scientific work is in the determination of the biodegradability of waste tyres with and without pH treatment, which simulate a comparison of the degradability of tyres in an acid rain environment. Another benefit of the scientific work is the depiction of biodegradation using 3D modelling with calculations of 100% degradability at different input concentrations of waste tyres. Modelling was used for the time for the absolute decomposition of tyres without pH adjustment (outside the acid rain environment) and with pH adjustment (in the acid rain environment). By monitoring, it is possible to determine whether acid rain as an anthropogenic activity influences the degradability of waste tyres in the natural environment. Biodegradability tests confirmed the low biological degradability of waste tyres. The highest average rate of biological degradability—15% was recorded at the input concentration of waste tyres of 350 mg/L. The aerobic degradability test confirmed the improvement of tyre decomposition when adjusting the pH to the level of 6.5–7.5. On the contrary, the anaerobic degradability test confirmed the improvement of the decomposition in the alkaline region compared to the neutral pH values of the mixture. By mathematical–statistical evaluation of aerobic decomposition with preservation of degradability trends at three input concentrations, the time of absolute decomposition of waste tyre particles at a concentration of 370 mg/L was found to be approximately 336 days. By adjusting the pH to the neutral range during aerobic decomposition, the total decomposition time was reduced to 126 days. The ecotoxicity tests performed confirmed the toxic effect of tyre leachate on selected tested organisms. In the future, the authors propose to focus on a more detailed assessment of the ecotoxicity of the waste conditions and to modify the biodegradability tests by changing the conditions (wider range of input pH value, longer biodegradability time, temperature) for a better simulation of different types of environments. Adjusting the pH to a neutral environment increased aerobic degradability but had no significant effect on anaerobic degradability. Therefore, it is important to focus future research on the adjustment of various conditions to support the degradability of tyres, of which pH has clearly been confirmed as an important factor.

Influence of Mixing Rubber Fibers on the Mechanical Properties of Expansive Clay under Freeze–Thaw Cycles

“…The normalized ultimate strengths were averaged (average values for different confining pressures) and are shown in Figure 10. The relationship between the average value of the normalized ultimate strength and the number of freeze-thaw cycles was established and shown as Equation (7), where the parameter λ is a deterioration parameter.…”

“…According to statistical data, the annual global production of waste tires exceeds 10 million tons [2]. Currently, the primary techniques for disposing waste tires are underground landfills, centralized storage, heat recovery for energy production, and pyrolysis for other products [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Tire dumps require large amounts of land and are prone to catching fire, releasing significant levels of particulate matter (PM) into air during incineration [9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…In Equation (7), λ reflects the soil ultimate strength as affected by freeze-thaw cycles. The value of λ is between 0 and 1.…”

“…The ultimate strength is more affected by freezethaw cycles when the value of L is close to 1. The ultimate strength is (1 − λ) times the ultimate strength without freeze-thaw cycles if the expansive clay is subjected to an infinite number of freeze-thaw cycles, according to Equation (7). Figure 10 shows that λ = 0.336 for unconsolidated expansive clay in Tang et al [49] and λ = 0.275 in Zhao et al [50].…”

“…Figure 10 shows that λ = 0.336 for unconsolidated expansive clay in Tang et al [49] and λ = 0.275 in Zhao et al [50]. However, the ultimate strength of rubber fiber-reinforced expansive clay is almost unaffected by freeze-thaw cycles, with λ = 0. number of freeze-thaw cycles, according to Equation (7). Figure 10 shows that λ = 0.336 for unconsolidated expansive clay in Tang et al [49] and λ = 0.275 in Zhao et al [50].…”