Why recycle scrap tires?
In addition to the fire hazard, scrap tire disposal creates other problems. Tires buried in landfills take up a lot of valuable space and tend to work their way back to the surface. When tires are co-mingled with garbage, they provide habitat for rats and other unwanted vermin. Because tire piles hold water, they become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
How are tires sorted in the recycling process?
Tires considered unsuitable for reuse are channeled into the recycling stream. Whole tires, “chunked” tires or tire chips may be used as supplemental fuel at pulp and paper mills, cement kilns, industrial boilers and power-generating utilities. In Canada, this use is steadily declining in favor of value-added products. Truck tire treads may be separated from their side-walls, fastened together with cables and used as blasting mats for the construction and mining industries.
What is shredding?
Before recycling, tires must be reduced to manageable-size pieces. Tires may be shredded with the metal bead wires still in place, or have the wires removed before shredding. The bead wires may then be recycled separately. The process of shredding and grinding scrap tire rubber, and the shred size, will depend upon its intended end use. Tires can be initially reduced in rotary shear shredders to pieces ranging in size from 1 to 3 inches.
How to make crumb?
Tire chips are reduced to crumb rubber before being used in the production of molded products or used “as is”. Crumb rubber is produced by either an “ambient” or “cryogenic” grinding process. AMBIENT PROCESSING is conducted at room temperature. Granulators use a set of fly knives that rotate at 100 to 200 RPM next to a set of stationary knives. Product size is controlled by a screen within the machine. Screens can be changed to vary the end product size. In crackermills, two large counter-rotating serrated rollers operate face-to-face in close tolerance. Each roller operates at a different speed – at about 30 to 50 RPM – which results in a rolling, cracking or grinding motion. Product size is controlled by the clearance between the rollers. The rubber usually passes through two to three mills to achieve various particle size reductions and to further liberate the steel and fiber components. CRYOGENIC PROCESSING uses liquid nitrogen, or other materials or methods, to freeze the rubber chips or particles prior to further size reduction. The use of cryogenic temperatures can be applied at any stage of scrap tire size reduction, but typically, the size of the material being fed into the machine is a nominal 2-inch chip or smaller. The material is cooled in a tunnel-style chamber, or immersed in liquid nitrogen to reduce its temperature. The cooler rubber is ground in an impact-type reduction unit, usually with a hammermill. This process reduces the rubber to particles ranging from 1/4” minus to 30 meshes, with the majority of the particles between 1/4” and 20 meshes. Further size reduction will require a secondary, high intensity grinding stage.
Fine grind process?
Micromilling, also called wet grinding, is a patented process for ultra-fine grinding. It reduces particle size by grinding in a liquid, usually water. Grinding is performed between two closely-spaced grinding wheels.
Cleaning the crumb?
Remnant steel from tire beads and belting is removed by magnets and the fiber is removed by aspiration and screening.
Using crumb?
Clean crumb rubber may be used for many applications “as is”. Most uses for crumb rubber require that the steel and fiber in the tire belting and bead must be removed before use. Once this has been accomplished, the uses for the crumb are wide and varied. Particle sizes range from one-quarter inch to fine powder generally used for producing molded products. Uses for larger sized crumb rubber include safety and cushioning surfaces for playgrounds, horse arenas and walking and jogging paths. They may also be used as soil amendment, mulch, and turf top dressing. With the addition of a binding agent, rubber crumb is also used extensively in the construction of track and field venues, for race tracks and as a base for sports fields.
What is the largest potential market for finely ground rubber?
In actual practice, asphalt rubber is a blend of paving-grade asphalt and recycled scrap tire rubber. This blend is subjected to a time-temperature formula, which changes the basic properties of the mix and creates desirable attributes, such as longer wear, resistance to cracking and lower road noise. The resulting asphalt rubber binder can be used in hot mix applications with conventional paving equipment, or for spray applications. The hot mix methods can recycle 1.85 to 3.3 tires per ton of mix, equally 370 to 660 tires per lane mile of two inch overlay. Alternately, spray-applied methods can recycle 30 to 45 tires per ton of binder, or about 250 to 800 tires per lane mile.
What kind of molded products come from crumb?
Through the use of heat and pressure and a binder, crumb rubber may be molded into a variety of useful attractive products. Patio blocks and pavers are two such examples. Pigments may be added during the process to provide consumers choices of colors. Molded rubber mats provide comfort and slip-resistance for factory work stations. In facilities such as skating rinks rubber mats in hallways, walkways and dressing rooms protect both floors and skates from damage. Rubber crumb, combined with plastics and other recyclable materials has been employed in the manufacture of building products such as attractive and very durable roof shakes. Rubber mattresses filled with rubber crumb are used in livestock stalls to reduce sores caused by lying on hard surfaces, and acts as an insulation barrier from cold concrete.
Who’s leading the world in the manufacture of quality products from recycled tires?
Canada has emerged as an international leader. In many parts of the world, burning recycled “rubber crumb” as Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF) is a common practice. But the high-tech incinerators needed for such operations are very expensive. To ensure their long-term economic stability, heavily-urbanized regions generating a huge and constant supply of scrap tires are required. Canada’s geographic character and widespread population has prompted a more diverse approach over the years. Our collection systems and processing technology must be compatible with longer transportation distances, seasonal variations in volume, fewer massive urban areas, and smaller numbers of vehicles overall. Growing public support for waste reduction throughout the country has also helped to sharpen our focus on recovering and recycling as many resources as possible, from every scrap tire Canadians generate. This Canadian emphasis on finding new “value-added” applications is expected to strengthen even further in the years ahead.
Our operating hours?
The office operating hours are from 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday and 8 AM to 3 PM on Friday. However, our installation and maintenance mobile teams are available at your convenience: days, evenings and nights, 7 days a week.
Are spare parts readily available?
We keep a large inventory of spare parts at our plant and our suppliers have offices all over North America and Mexico making motors, gearboxes and seals readily available. Jecc Mécanique’s machine shop also provides 5 operators at all times.