Copyright 1997 PR Newswire Association, Inc.
PR Newswire February 4, 1997, Tuesday
Consumption of whole medium-commercial truck tires as fuel is the newest chapter in the story of scrap tires as a recoverable resource, according to Goodyear engineers.
"Development of a whole tire injection system to handle larger tires such as those found on semi-tractor trailers means that ever increasing amounts of these tires will be able to be used for fuel purposes," said Andy Eastman, team leader of engineering applications. Eastman, along with Jack Zimmer, a Goodyear business and technical analyst, work to develop and grow markets to consume scrap tires.
Discarded whole medium commercial truck tires weigh approximately 100 pounds each. Energy and steel from these tires is being utilized to produce cement at plants in three North American locations -- San Antonio, Texas; Blandon, Pa.; and Joliette, Quebec, according to Zimmer. He noted these facilities, equipped with the Cadence Charge System also are capable of using whole passenger and light truck tires as a fuel source. The patented injection system is marketed by Cadence Environmental Energy of Michigan City, Ind.
"At the close of 1996 a total of 107 U.S. locations were consuming tires for fuel and another 96 were conducting or planning test burns," Zimmer said. These sites include cement kilns, lime kilns, paper and pulp mills, electrical generating plants, an iron foundry and a copper smelter.
"Scrap tires used as supplemental fuel by these plants reduces solid waste and air emissions while helping to conserve our nation's natural resources," Zimmer said.
In 1996 the reuse/recovery rate for scrap tires reached an estimated 82%. Last year energy was the largest market for scrap tires, using 164 million or 65 percent of the 253 million tires scrapped, according to the Scrap Tire Management Council. Additional markets divert approximately 17 percent of the tires for other uses such as export, civil engineering and fabricated products.
Goodyear has directed intense efforts toward the scrap tire challenge since 1989 when only 10 percent of the scrap tires were being utilized. Included in Goodyear's research is the funding of an experimental scrap tire dam in the Brawley Wash, southwest of Tucson, Ariz., which may hold possibilities for the future use of large mine-haul tires to help eliminate soil erosion in washes found in the American Southwest. SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company CONTACT: Mary Manley of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 330-796-8928
Copyright 1997 The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch January 20, 1997, Monday
A company is testing a fuel mixture that includes rubber from scrap tires, a mixture that one day could help businesses save money and curb pollution while finding a better way to get rid of the tires.
Redland Oil Inc. has been allowed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a 60-day experiment of the tire-derived fuel at its lime plant in this north-central Ohio village.
While the first set of test results is not expected for several weeks, preliminary results show declines in two major types of pollutants, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, Rob Cox, Redland's environmental and safety coordinator, told The (Toledo) Blade.
Sulfur dioxide emissions have been linked to acid rain while nitrogen dioxide, when mixed with hydrocarbons and summer heat, helps produce smog.
If Redland can show the fuel causes no more pollution than coal - which the company is authorized to burn - OEPA likely would allow Redland to burn the fuel at its plants in Millersville and Woodville, Ohio.
The newspaper said rising costs and increasing government regulations aimed at reducing air pollution have some companies involved in heavy industry studying fuel options other than coal.
Rubber can cause respiratory problems and give off a thick, black smoke when burned at lower temperatures, such as in trash fires. It burns much cleaner when incinerated by an extremely hot flame.
Lime plants burn fuel inside kilns that can reach temperatures exceeding 3,000 degrees.
More than 850 million tires are stacked in piles across the United States. Ohio has the most, 100 million, according to the Scrap Tire Management Council in Washington, D.C.
Trash haulers also would be grateful since Ohio has adopted strict laws regulating scrap tires.