Efficient Recovery of Non-Shredded Tires via Pyrolysis in an Innovative Pilot Plant

Abstract

New and end of life tires have been pyrolyzed in an innovative pilot plant that processes whole tires, thus saving the energy costs of shredding while allowing energy and materials recovery. Furthermore, the presence of a hydraulic guard guarantees high process safety. Several tests at different temperatures have been performed and the collected solid, liquid and gaseous products have been quantified and characterized. The influence of the maximum process temperature on yields and chemical-physical properties of pyrolysis products has also been evaluated. In view of a plant scale-up to continuous mode, we have studied the influence of variation of tires type and wear and the effects of the final products aging.

Characterization of solid residues emerging during ultrasonic cleaning treatments of tyre moulds

“…Further analysing the data allow to notice the presence of quite high quantity of sulphur and zinc. These two elements are typically present in tyre rubber formulation as vulcanization agent and accelerator, respectively [11]. However, the quantity of these elements is relevantly higher in sample B: sulphur quantity is six time higher, while zinc is the double.…”

“…On the other hand, sample A is composed also by small quantities of alkali and alkaline earth metals (sodium, potassium, calcium), metalloid (silicon) and transition metals (iron and copper). While some of these elements are commonly found in tyres pyrolysis char, the percentages found in the investigated samples are significantly higher [11].…”

“…zinc oxide, present in 1-2 %wt. in the rubber as vulcanization activator [11]), and fluorinating agents.…”

Pyrolysis of fiberglass/polyester composites: Recovery and characterization of obtained products

“…Pyrolysis was applied, over the years, to different substrates, e.g. to carbonaceous materials, such as coal or wood [7,8], biomasses [9,10], municipal solid waste [11], packaging [12,13] and tires [14,15] for energy and valuable chemicals recovery. Thanks to its versatility the process was also applied to the pyrolysis of carbon fiber composites (CFRPs) where energy recovery to sustain the process is coupled to the recovery of reusable carbon fibers [16,17,18].…”

“…In this context, the authors developed a batch pyrolysis system that employs an innovative reaction chamber plunged in a water tank and loaded through a hydraulic guard, to ensure the sealing of the chamber and a highly safe process [14,28,29]. The purpose of that investigation was to develop a pyrolytic process, viable for composite materials which are otherwise hardly recoverable such as thick CFRP [30,31,32] and that could be both environmentally and financially sustainable.…”