Utilization of used automotive tires by processing into fuel briquettes

Abstract

One of the urgent problems facing the trucking companies of our country is the problem of recycling used tires. Utilization and recycling is not only the reduction of pollution, but also the reduction of consumption of natural resources and energy. The continuous growth of the tractor fleet leads to a constant increase in the number of used tires. This problem is of great environmental importance, as worn tires accumulate in the places of their operation (at the motor depot, industrial, agricultural enterprises, etc.), are taken to landfills or scattered in the surrounding area, pollute the environment because they do not decompose due to their high resistance to action of external factors (sunlight, moisture, oxygen, ozone, microbiological influences). Tires have a high fire hazard, and the products of their uncontrolled combustion have an extremely harmful effect on the environment (soil, water, air pool) and its inhabitants. At the same time, the constant strengthening of accepted international norms limiting environmental pollution by waste forces us to spend significant funds on the elimination of the consequences of pollution. Thus, there is an urgent need to dispose of used tire waste.

Tires are a source of valuable secondary raw materials: rubber (rubber), soot (almost pure carbon) and represent a huge reserve of raw materials, and the elimination of landfills of worn tires will free up significant areas of land occupied by them. Based on the analysis of literature sources, the possibility of formation of straw briquettes with reasonable parameters was checked and the most significant parameters of rubber crumb influencing the density of briquettes were determined: crumb size, rubber crumb content in briquette, pressing pressure.

To ensure the practical use of the results obtained during the research, the dependences of the density of briquettes on the size of the rubber crumb, the content of the rubber crumb, the pressing pressure were constructed and analyzed with the help of computer software. Winter wheat straw with the addition of rubber crumb was used for briquetting. The briquettes were made with a diameter of 70 mm. Each experiment was conducted three times, the results with the smallest obvious errors were selected.

As a result of laboratory tests, the optimal parameters for the manufacture of fuel briquettes from a mixture of straw and rubber crumb were determined. For straw, the fraction size is 10 mm, the moisture content of the straw is 14%. For rubber crumb, the fraction size is 2 mm, the content of rubber crumb in the raw material is 5%. According to research, it was rational to vibrate the pressing pressure for the manufacture of fuel briquettes - 130 MPa.

The calculations show that the use of the proposed briquettes as fuel in comparison with briquettes, which were made only from winter wheat straw, will increase their calorific value by 6%.