Carbon Black is a vital component in products we use every day from clothing to construction to tires to plastic. In its most basic form, it is a fine black powder that can be mixed with other materials to make them black in color or give them special properties such as UV light resistance and structural strength.
What is it?
Virgin Carbon Black
In its pure or virgin form, carbon black is in high demand and essential to many industries, especially the tire industry. With over 14 million tons of carbon black produced worldwide, the tire industry dominates in consumption by using nearly 70% of the carbon black on the market. Due to the product’s ability to strengthen and improve the physical properties of rubber, carbon black is now essential to the tire-making process.
Recovered Carbon Black
Recovered carbon black is carbon black that has been reclaimed via a recycling process, typically tire pyrolysis. Because it is a recovered material, it is a more sustainable product compared to virgin carbon black. Historically, the technological impasse has been to create a recovered carbon black without losing the integrity or quality of virgin carbon black’s features. With Tyreflow’s recovered carbon black refining innovation, high value recovered carbon black can now be produced from tire waste. With over 4 billion tires that end up in landfills worldwide and approximately 3 kg of carbon black in an average car tire, it is evident that there is untapped potential for tire and carbon black recycling to go together in tandem.
How is it made?
Virgin Carbon Black
Virgin carbon black is the leftover soot created from a complex process of incomplete combustion of fuel. During this process hydrocarbon fuel, such as oil or gas, is burned with a limited oxygen supply resulting in a fine, black particle left behind thus creating a pure form of carbon black. In order to produce 1 ton of carbon black, almost 1.5 tons of fossil fuel raw materials are needed. During the thermal process, over 2.5 tons of CO2 emissions are released per ton of carbon black produced.
Recovered Carbon Black
Through a thermal process that involves the exclusion of oxygen (pyrolysis – tires are distilled, not combusted), tire waste is broken down. The gases produced during the process are condensed resulting in TPO or Tire Pyrolysis Oil. By the end of the process, a carbon residue remains creating recovered carbon black. Tyreflow takes this process one step further, by purifying the carbon residue and removing any ash to create the purest form of recovered carbon black on the market, both a sustainable and high value product.
What can we do?
The time for action is now. The world needs to reduce its carbon footprint, and tire waste is one example of a growing problem. If we start looking at recovered carbon black, particularly on a large scale, as an alternative to virgin carbon black production, we can make great strides towards reducing our impact on the world without sacrificing product quality. Recovered carbon black is the future and with Tyreflow’s technology, it is now available to be vertically integrated on a global scale.
To learn more about Tyreflow’s recovered carbon black product, technology and applications, please click here to get in touch.