Tyre Pyrolysis

End-of-life tyres contain a lot of chemical bound energy.
As a result of pyrolysis of waste tyres, one obtains: high-energy gas, Pyrolysis oils, carbon black and steel wire. The ratios of the first three products depend on process conditions, mainly on temperature.

• The pyrolysis method for recycling used tyres is a technique, which heats whole or shredded tyres in a reactor vessel containing an oxygen free atmosphere and a heat source.
• In the reactor the rubber is softened after which the rubber polymers continuously breakdown into smaller molecules.
• These smaller molecules eventually vaporize and exit from the reactor.
• These vapors can be burned directly to produce power or condensed into an oily type liquid, generally used as a fuel.
• Some molecules are too small to condense. They remain as a gas, which can be burned as fuel.
• The minerals that were part of the tyre, about 40 to 45 % by weight, are removed as a solid.
• When performed well a tyre pyrolysis process is a very clean operation and has nearly no emissions or waste.
• The properties of the gas, liquid and solid output are determined by the type of feedstock used and the process conditions.
• For instance, whole tyres contain fibers and steel. Shredded tyres have most of the steel and sometimes most of the fiber removed.
• Batch wise Process is done by tyre pyrolysis.
• The steel can be removed from the solid stream with magnets for recycling. The remaining solid material often referred to as "charcoal".