Recycling carbon black from rubber via pyrolysis

Important results from the project

Auto translated The purpose of the project is to evaluate a pyrolysis-based concept for recycling rubber products. This is to reduce the consumption of fossil oil, and to improve the sustainability of the rubber industry. The project will provide insights into the properties of recycled carbon black, and how these can be optimized through changes in process properties and through possible finishing. The project will also provide insights into the composition of pyrolysis oil and deliver proposals for potential uses. The project will supply rubber made with recycled carbon black.

Expected long term effects

** Denna text är maskinöversatt ** High-quality carbon black has been recovered from Metso Outotecs´s production waste, both at RISE ETC on a bench scale and via co-pyrolysis at Scandinavian Enviro Systems´s full-scale plant. The characterization of carbon black shows a high quality according to the ASTM standards that apply to carbon black could be effectively removed with cheap basic chemicals. Pyrolysis oil obtained at the bench scale pyrolysis shows high levels of BTX and D-Limonen, it has a biogenic content of as much as 43% and has a water content of about 2%.

Approach and implementation

Pyrolysis was performed by bench-scale manufacturing spills where the pyrolysis step was monitored online via GC-FID, temp and pressure. Cumbers were analyzed to determine surface area and inorganic content. Leaching was done to minimize the inorganic content of the carbon black. The pyrolysis oil was analyzed on GC-MS, Water content, Acid number and mineral analysis. The insight from the bench scale was brought to pyrolyze a larger amount of rubber in the large-scale plant at Scandinavian Enviro system. The carbon black is currently being evaluated in rubber compounds at Metso.