Development of Manufacturing Technologies to Increase Scrap Steel Recycling into New Tires

Development of Manufacturing Technologies to Increase Scrap Steel Recycling into New Tires

This project seeks to develop innovative processing technologies that can enable a greater rate of recycling of steel scrap into the manufacturing of new tires. The goal of this proposal is to increase the scrap recycling rate from 20% to 80%. During the cold drawing process, the fine wires are subjected to high levels of stresses that are known to generate wire breakage when impurity levels such as Cu or Sn are too high.

Upon completion, this project will develop thermal and chemical processing techniques to ameliorate the micro-structure to tolerate higher Cu contents. This project will reduce primary feedstock by 0.682 million metric tons (MMT) of steel, 10.7 PJ energy reduction, 1.19 MMCO2e. Assumptions based on U.S. tire production and increase in recycled steel use from 20 to 80%.

Project Team:
Arizona State University (ASU), Michelin North America, Inc.

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21-01-MM-5005

Efficient Purification and Reuse of Carbon Black Recovered from End-of-Life Tires

Efficient Purification and Reuse of Carbon Black Recovered from End-of-Life Tires

This project seeks to develop process technology to recover a low-ash content high-quality carbon black from end-of-life tire rubber.

Project Team:
University of Utah, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), OTR Wheel Engineering/Green Carbon

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20-01-RR-4087

Development of Instruments and Techniques That Can Assess Tire Life and Increase Re-Manufacturing of Commercial Vehicle Tires

Development of Instruments and Techniques That Can Assess Tire Life and Increase Re-Manufacturing of Commercial Vehicle Tires

This project seeks to increase the average number of times commercial vehicle tires are re-manufactured (retreaded) through the development of instruments and techniques that can assess the remaining useful life of tires in operation and optimize tire remanufacture.

Project Team:
Michelin North America, Northwestern University

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20-01-RM-4006

Material Characterizations and Sorting Specifications That Can Allow the Development of Advanced Tire Constructions with High Incorporation of Recovered Rubber Materials

Material Characterizations and Sorting Specifications That Can Allow the Development of Advanced Tire Constructions with High Incorporation of Recovered Rubber Materials

This project seeks to improve the recycling efficiency of recovered rubber materials from used tires back into new tires, by increasing the addition of micronized rubber powder (MRP) from used tires in the production of composite polymer materials (CPM) which is used in the production of new tires. CPM is a blend of MRP and virgin rubber. Increasing the use of MRP for new tires significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions versus other tire recycling processes such as tire burning in cement kilns, crumb or reclaimed rubber manufacturing. While MRP is an attractive cost-effective option for recycling of tires, its incorporation into new tire compounds is limited to ensure that those compounds have properties equivalent to virgin polymers.

This project will develop an understanding of the properties of MRP as a function of the MRP feedstock (used tires) and processing conditions for the production of MRP. This would enable the development of specifications for sorting of used tires and grinding of the tires MRP, together with the associated formulations and tire constructions that will allow higher incorporation of MRP back into new tires without degradation in tire performance, including reliability, durability and rolling resistance. The estimated energy savings for this project are 21PJ per year.

Project Team:
Michelin, Northwestern University, Nike

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18-02-RR-02