Solution of waste tire to fule oil and carbon black
An Innovative Solution for Pyrolyzing End-of-Life Tires into Fuel Oil and Refined Carbon Black
Introduction: A Global Pollution Challenge and a Circular Economy Opportunity
End-of-life tires (ELTs), often termed "black pollution," are one of the world's most challenging solid waste streams. Their durable physical and chemical structure makes them resistant to natural degradation. Stockpiling them not only consumes land but also creates fire hazards and breeding grounds for pests, posing significant risks to the environment and public health.
Concurrently, nations worldwide, particularly in Europe where the circular economy is a strategic priority, are actively seeking high-value solutions to transform waste into resources. In this context, low-temperature, micro-negative pressure pyrolysis technology emerges as a cutting-edge solution for the complete resource recovery, harmless treatment, and volume reduction of ELTs, perfectly aligning with the core principles of a circular economy.
The Core Solution: Advanced Low-Temperature Pyrolysis Technology
The heart of this solution is an efficient and environmentally sound continuous or batch pyrolysis system. The process flow is as follows:
- Preprocessing:Whole waste tires are fed into a wire extractor to remove the bead wire. They are then shredded into 5-10 cm rubber chips or rubber blocks. This optimal size ensures uniform feeding and efficient heat transfer while minimizing energy consumption during the shredding process, significantly reducing electricity costs.
- Feeding & Pyrolysis:The preprocessed rubber chips are automatically conveyed into a sealed pyrolysis reactor. In an oxygen-deficient or anaerobic environment, indirect heating is applied to maintain the temperature within a precise optimal range (typically 300-450°C). Under micro-negative pressure, the long-chain polymer hydrocarbons (natural and synthetic rubber) in the tires undergo thermal cracking, vaporizing into an oil-gas mixture.
- Gas Separation & Condensation:The resulting oil-gas mixture enters a fractionation system where heavy and light oils are separated. The gases then pass through a multi-stage condensation system, where condensable gases are liquefied into valuable pyrolytic oil (often called Tyre Pyrolysis Oil or TPO).
- Discharge & Collection: After pyrolysis is complete, the solid residue—primarily carbon black and steel wire—is discharged through an automated slag removal system. The steel wire can be sold as high-quality scrap steel. The entire process of feeding, pyrolysis, and discharging is highly automated, requiring minimal manual intervention, which drastically reduces labor costs** and improves safety.
High-Value End Products: From Waste to Treasure
The true value of this solution lies in its outputs, which are not waste but sought-after industrial raw materials.
- Pyrolytic Oil (Fuel Oil):
Direct Sale: The produced oil has a high calorific value (approx. 42 MJ/kg) and can be sold directly as a replacement fuel for heavy industries (e.g., cement kilns, steel mills, boiler systems), generating immediate economic returns.
Refining: Using further distillation and refining equipment, the crude pyrolytic oil can be upgraded into higher-value light fuel oils (e.g., diesel-like fractions) or even used as a feedstock in the chemical industry, multiplying its value.
- Refined Carbon Black (rCB):
The raw carbon black exiting the reactor contains small amounts of ash and impurities and does not meet industrial specifications.
Through deep processing techniques such as grinding, pelletizing, and modification, its quality can be greatly enhanced to produce standardized Recycled Carbon Black (rCB) that meets industry grades (e.g., similar to N660, N770).
This refined carbon black is a highly competitive raw material. It can partially replace virgin carbon black in applications such as new tire manufacturing, rubber conveyor belts, seals, and plastic compounds, providing a sustainable input for the rubber industry and creating a genuine closed-loop cycle.
Key Advantages: Dual Economic and Environmental Benefits
Comprehensive Pollution Solution: Achieves 100% resource recovery from ELTs with no secondary pollution, effectively solving the "black pollution" problem.
Superior Economics:
Low Operational Costs: The use of rubber chips/blocks simplifies preprocessing and increases pyrolysis efficiency. Combined with a high degree of automation, this significantly lowers electricity and labor costs.
High-Value Outputs: Both the oil and refined carbon black have stable and vast markets, ensuring a high return on investment.
Aligns with Global Trends: This technology fully complies with the circular economy, green manufacturing, and carbon emission reduction policies strongly promoted by the EU and other developed nations, ensuring high market accessibility and potential for policy support.
Energy Sustainability: The non-condensable combustible gas generated during the process can be recycled to heat the reactor, reducing external fuel requirements, further cutting costs, and enhancing environmental performance.
Conclusion
The pyrolysis of end-of-life tires into fuel oil and refined carbon black is a proven pathway for transforming an environmental burden into green wealth. It is more than just a waste treatment technology; it is a strategic industry that builds a "resource-product-renewable resource" circular model. This solution provides a practical and feasible answer for global solid waste management and sustainable resource development. Investing in it is an investment in a cleaner, more economical, and more sustainable future.
High-Value Recovered Products:
Recovered Carbon Black (rCB): a Sustainable replacement for virgin carbon black
Recovered Steel Wire & Fiber: a sustainable materials replacement for the construction industries
Biogenic Recovered Fuel Oil (rFO): Low-carbon fuel for transportation and industrial applications
Green Hydrogen Co-Production: Supporting Australia's clean energy transition
Advanced Carbon Upgrading Technology:
Transforms low-value tyre char into high-performance recovered carbon black
It can replace virgin carbon black by 10–100%, reducing reliance on fossil-derived carbon black
Enables closed-loop tyre-to-tyre recycling
Carbon Emission Offsets:
450 kg CO₂ reduction per metric tonne of recovered carbon black
Virgin carbon black production emits over 2.5 metric tonnes of CO₂ per tonne produced
Estimate to produce over 100,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ annually
MC Pyrolysis’s Key Advantages:
- Proven Commercial-Scale Technology
Backed by decades of successful real-world performance in tyre pyrolysis and carbon upgrading.
- High-Quality Recovered Carbon Black (rCB)
Delivers consistent, high-performance material that meets ASTM standards.
- Sustainable Fuel Production
Generates biogenic pyrolysis oil suitable for low-carbon energy applications.
- End-to-End Circular Economy Integration
Enables tyre-to-tyre and tyre-to-fuel recycling models for a fully sustainable solution.
- Scalable & Modular Solutions
Engineered for global deployment with high-yield, flexible operations.