This technology is available from Temarex Corporation.

ELASTOMERS RECYCLED

 

Title: OXIDATIVE DECOUPLING OF SCRAP RUBBER

 

Inventor(s): S. Lee, F. Azzam, M. Genger, K. Fullerton, B. Kocher

Disclosure 204 U.S. Patent 5,386,055

Disclosure 204-CIP U.S. Patent 5,516,952

This invention relates to a process for breaking down rubber polymer materials by selective oxidative decoupling of carbon-carbon, carbon-sulfur and sulfur-sulfur bonds at supercritical or near supercritical conditions for water.

Supercritical water or water near supercritical conditions is used as a solvent and reforming agent to produce relatively high yields of lower molecular weight hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons which are suitable for use as a fuel or which can be separated or further refined to produce various commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals or both.

The invention provides an environmentally friendly process for recycling rubber waste materials such as waste tires to generate valuable fuels or chemical feedstocks in a closed oxidation process which is free of hazardous stack emissions. The rubber polymer materials which can be recycled in accordance with the process can include typical amounts of conventional compounding ingredients and other impurities without significantly affecting the overall conversion.

The largest volume of scrap rubber can be found in used tires. According to an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 1993 report regarding the manufacture of basic components derived from scrap tire feedstock. In general, the oil produced is of a quality that would permit direct substitution for distillate fuels; the charcoal product could be used directly in decontamination of soils and with additional processing the charcoal product becomes potentially useful as activated charcoal and carbon black; and the gaseous fuel is generally of pipeline quality which could be sold as commercial fuel to gas transmission pipeline companies.

 

Title: CONTINUOUS ULTRASONIC DEVULCANIZATION OF VULCANIZED ELASTOMERS

Inventor(s): A. Isayev, J. Chen

Disclosure 171 U.S. Patent 5,258,413

Disclosure 171-CIP U.S. Patent 5,284,625

This invention relates to a continuous ultrasonic method for selectively breaking the carbon-sulfur (C-S), sulfur-sulfur (S-S), and if desired, carbon-carbon (C-C) bonds in a vulcanized elastomer.

It is well known that vulcanized elastomers having a three-dimensional chemical network, cannot flow under the effect of heat and/or pressure. This creates a hugh problem in the recycling of used tires and other elastomeric products. Through the application of certain levels of ultrasonic amplitudes in the presence of pressure and optionally heat, the three-dimensional network of vulcanized elastomer can be broken down. As a most desirable consequence, ultrasonically treated cured rubber becomes soft, thereby enabling this material to be reprocessed and shaped in a manner similar to that employed with uncured elastomers.

To date the following materials have been processed using this technology: Ground Tire Rubber (GTR), tire buffings, EPDM, Nitrile, Butyl, SBR, Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), fluoroelastomers, and silicon. Other materials will continually be added to the list in the future.

Experimental processing of your in-house elastomer waste stream (sample) is available upon request for a small fee. This experimental processing permits requestor to evaluate the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties after ultrasonic treating. Experimental processing information is held confidential and requestor is not required to disclose recipe details.

This technology is broken down into three segments: (1) equipment, (2) processing tires, and (3) processing non-tire materials. Equipment can be either fixed or on a mobile station to move from site to site.

All interested parties in recycling either tires and/or non-tire waste streams can secure access to this technology from designated licensee(s) who are selling the equipment.