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