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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 20 2018, @11:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the where-the-rubber-meets-the-road dept.

Energy News reports that a company based in the Republic of Georgia has invented a new process for recycling rubber tires into new treads. G3C Technologies' new process:

...takes scrap tires and chemically/industrially breaks them down to produce a material known as recovered black carbon[sic] (rCB). This renewed material can then be used to make brand new tires or other products typically requiring 'virgin' carbon black, such as plastic auto parts, paints, and semi-conductive parts– epitomizing the concept of circular economy and metaphorically turning the need for a 'virgin birth' of new carbon black into one of reincarnation.

Currently 46 per cent of end of life tires are disposed of through incineration, and 15% end up in landfills. As well as reducing this number, G3C's process can dramatically reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere. "Production of 1 kg of virgin carbon black produces 2.4 kg of CO2 emissions, while the creation of rCB emits just 20 to 30 per cent of that total, minimizing the carbon footprint of new tire production."


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @12:59PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @12:59PM (#764217)

    Here's some background on the rCB business,
        https://www.rubbernews.com/article/20181010/NEWS/181019996/recovered-carbon-black-has-potential-barriers [rubbernews.com]
    Among other problems, it looks like a bootstrapping problem -- plastic makers are ready to use rCB when there is a large and steady supply. Meanwhile, the process details are fussy, and getting from pilot stage to large scale recycling has been difficult so far.

    Vulcanized rubber bonds the carbon black quite tightly, just grinding the rubber up into "crumbs" (which have some market as fillers) doesn't change the chemistry. Unbonding the long change polymers is required.

    Perhaps this new process will improve the business prospects.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @01:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @01:05PM (#764218)

    whoops
    long change polymers
    long chain polymers

  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday November 20 2018, @03:35PM

    by richtopia (3160) on Tuesday November 20 2018, @03:35PM (#764261) Homepage Journal

    Thanks for the details. The posted article does make the process sound like an easy win: the recycled tyres produce 20~30 percent of the CO2 of virgin carbon black. I would assume that translates into the energy and dollar savings critical for getting a process off the ground.

    I'm impressed and curious about the logistics details of the company: it looks like engineering is based in New Jersey while the manufacturing/lab is based in Georgia (the country). I'm thrilled to see new technology being developed in Georgia, but it isn't exactly a world centre of tyre or plastics production (my understanding is the economy is largely driven by mineral extraction).

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @04:38PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @04:38PM (#764279)

    "Virgin carbon black" is produced as a byproduct of oil refining, especially cracking heavy crude. Breaking those long chains requires either adding hydrogen from (say) NatGas, or strategically removing carbon to produce shorter chains, like octane.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/business/energy-environment/mountain-of-petroleum-coke-from-oil-sands-rises-in-detroit.html [nytimes.com]

    So it isn't like there's a shortage of the stuff.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:57AM

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:57AM (#764553) Homepage Journal

      They don't call it Carbon Black. They call it Petroleum Coke. And they say it's tremendously important for our wonderful Steel & Aluminum Industries. But that's the Corrupt Failing Fake News New York Times, so who knows? Who really knows? I know this: American Steel & Aluminum is coming back in a big big way. They were dieing, the Globalists almost killed them. And frankly, almost killed our whole economy. I said, "oh no you don't!" And I brought them back. I put a Tariff on the Canadian Steel & Aluminum. And the Chinese. MAGA!!!

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:20AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:20AM (#764559)

      Carbon black, as used in tires, is an engineered product. Like tiny snow flakes (but black...) the exact shape makes a difference in the behavior of the final "reinforced rubber" which is long chain polymers with the tiny carbon black flakes interspersed. Here's one supplier (there are quite a few, worldwide),
          http://www.cabotcorp.com/solutions/products-plus/carbon-blacks-for-elastomer-reinforcement [cabotcorp.com]

      A more recent development is to substitute very fine silica / silane for some of the carbon black. It doesn't bond directly to the rubber (so there are special surface treatments) but because the particles are stronger it can lead to improved tire performance, when done correctly.