What is Recycled carbon black?

Recovered Carbon Black, also known as reclaimed carbon black or recycled carbon black, is carbon black produced from post-consumer or post-industrial waste rubber products through a thermal decomposition process. Carbon black is traditionally produced by the controlled pyrolysis or burning of hydrocarbon feedstocks such as oil or natural gas. Recycled carbon black utilizes end-of-life tires and rubber products as its raw material feedstock instead of virgin materials.

The Process of Recycled carbon black Production

The production process of recycled carbon black involves several steps. First, the waste rubber materials such as discarded tires undergo shredding and sorting to remove any wire or metal contamination. The shredded rubber is then fed into a rotary kiln operated at temperatures between 800-950°C under controlled pyrolytic conditions with little or no oxygen present. This causes the rubber polymers to decompose and the carbon atoms reconfigure into carbon black particles. The pyrolysis gases and vaporized products are cooled and separated. The carbon black product is then recovered, grounded to specific particle size requirements and is ready to be used.

Characteristics and Quality of Recycled carbon black

Recovered Carbon Black has physical, mechanical and chemical properties similar to those of traditional carbon blacks produced from fossil fuels. However, there may be some variations depending on the quality of the input scrap rubber. The particle size distribution, surface area, aggregate size, surface chemistry, tinting strength and reinforcing ability of recycled carbon black are comparable to those of commonly used commercial grades of carbon black. Modern recovery facilities equipped with advanced process control systems are able to produce recycled carbon black of consistently high quality to satisfy various product specifications.

Environmental and Economic Benefits

The use of recycled carbon black provides significant environmental benefits by diverting waste rubber resources from landfills and incineration. When used to replace a portion of virgin carbon black in rubber compound formulations, it helps reduce the consumption of non-renewable fossil fuel resources as well as lowers carbon emissions involved in carbon black production. Recycled carbon black production also helps address the growing stockpile of discarded tires globally in an environmentally sound manner through reuse.

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