Grantee Research Project Results
1999 Progress Report: The Manufacture of Carbon Black from Oils Derived from Scrap Tires
EPA Contract Number: 68D98117Title: The Manufacture of Carbon Black from Oils Derived from Scrap Tires
Investigators: Wojtowicz, Marek
Small Business: Advanced Fuel Research Inc.
EPA Contact:
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 1998 through March 1, 1999
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 1998 through March 1, 1999
Project Amount: $70,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , SBIR - Waste , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
This project addresses the reprocessing of oils derived from waste-tire pyrolysis into carbon black, a valuable feedstock for the manufacture of tires, other rubber products, paints, pigments, ink, powder coating, toner, and more. Such a process would form a recycling loop for the carbon black recovered from waste tires. Tire pyrolysis plants have been in operation for several years, but the economics are poor. This is due to the low value of the end products, which are usually fuels (e.g., oil, pyrolysis gas, char). Reprocessing of waste tires into value-added products would improve the economic leverage. The overall objective of the project is to develop a process for producing carbon black from tire pyrolysis oil. The Phase I objective, to demonstrate the feasibility of making carbon black of acceptable quality, was successfully accomplished, with American Society for Testing and Materials-grade carbon blacks produced. The Phase II objectives are to optimize product quality, as a function of process conditions and reactor design, and to advance the process to a pilot scale (Phase II option). This will be accomplished in the following tasks: (1) design and construction of a laboratory demonstration unit, (2) process optimization, (3) product analysis and process assessment, and (4) pilot-scale testing (Phase II option).The proposed research, if successful, should result in a process that would allow for the recycling of a huge stream of solid waste, the majority of which currently ends up in a landfill. The recovered carbon black would be reused mainly in tire manufacturing, which is a large-volume industry. The proposed technology should provide a strong boost for the tire pyrolysis plants that have suffered from poor process economics. The process involves only a few modifications in the existing state-of-the-art (carbon black furnace process), the main innovations being the substitution of tire pyrolysis oil for the traditional petroleum feedstocks and the processing of the oils to high-value products. For these reasons, the new technology is gaining acceptance within the industry, although the properties of the carbon black products as a function of process conditions and reactor design still need to be determined.
Supplemental Keywords:
small business, SBIR, hazardous/solid waste, recycling, engineering, chemistry, EPA., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Sustainable Industry/Business, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Municipal, Sustainable Environment, Chemistry, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Hazardous Waste, New/Innovative technologies, Engineering, Hazardous, hazardous waste disposal, tires, hazardous waste recycling, scrap tires, recovery, pyrolysis, municipal waste, recovered materials, carbon black, recycling, innovative technology, reuse, waste management, waste recovery, innovative technologies, HiChem ProcessProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractSBIR Phase II:
The Manufacture of Carbon Black From Oils Derived From Scrap Tires | 1998 Progress Report | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.