©️2024 Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin / Martin von Wolfersdorff
Dear colleagues & friends of recovered Carbon Black,
here is your September dose of recovered Carbon Black news! We now have 6,744 subscribers and counting!
Overview
Smithers rCB Conferences in Qingdao and Amsterdam
recovered Carbon Black specifications
Marubeni Corporation collaboration with Green Rubber Energy Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Chemical Group studies chemical recycling of ELTs repurposing coke ovens
Murfitts Industries orders Front End Engineering Design study from Vow ASA
rCB Conferences in Qingdao and Amsterdam
The Smithersrecovered Carbon Black Europe Conference 2024 will be in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on November 4th (workshop), November 5th and 6th (conference). You can book here (15% discount with code “RCB2415”): https://www.smithers.com/event/sessions/19536
The inaugural Smithersrecovered Carbon Black Asia Conference 2024 will be in Qingdao, China, on September 24th-25th (conference) and 26th (facility visit to Qingdao Ecostar). As on the inaugural conference 2019 in Berlin, the keynote will be by Michelin. This conference will be a hybrid conference, meaning you can also participate online. You can book here (10% discount with code “RCBSP2410"): https://www.smithers.com/event/sessions/19093
In this video I explain the difference between the two events. rCB Europe is targeting the western approach to rCB & tyre pyrolysis, while rCB Asia is addressing the eastern approach. I hope to see you in one of these key events for the circular industry (or in both?)!
recovered Carbon Black specifications
We need to talk about rCB specifications and about the different rCB classification proposals by rCB Rubber ( Bridgestone EMEA & Michelin) and the ASTM D36.70 committee. I have written my opinion about the topic in this post. In summary:
The tyre pyrolysis industry's scale up and funding relies heavily on the commercialisation of rCB, which amounts to about 40% of the mass output. You cannot beat the mass balance.
Without the valorisation to commercial rCB, tyre pyrolysis companies cannot operate sustainably nor profitably.
Only defined product categories and product classification will allow the tire industry to source rCB in sufficient quantities at sufficient consistency and in sufficient quality.
Any rCB classification, no matter how dysfunctional, is better than no classification.
Lastly, the D1765 Standard Classification System for Carbon Blacks is also dysfunctional as both target properties have their quirks. The Iodine Number is falsified by surface groups on the carbon black and typically replaced by BET nitrogen adsorption using a correlation to calculate the external surface area, the Statistical Thickness Surface Area ("STSA"). The Oil Absorption Number ("OAN") is typically replaced by the Crushed Oil Absorption Number ("COAN") in order to break up large agglomerates and to consider a better result for all aggregates in the sample.
Call-to-action:Let's get an rCB classification system implemented as quick as possible!
Great work has been done by both the rCB Rubber Project (Bridgestone EMEA & Michelin) and the ASTM D36.70 committee. Hopefully, Pieter ter Haar can give us some progress news on the rCB classification during the inaugural rCB Asia Conference in Qingdao.
I have put my Top Carbon programme on hold while we wait for widely accepted rCB specifications and the rCB classification. Once we have these, I will work with rCB producers and rCB users to implement and pressure-test the new rCB classification.
Marubeni Corporation collaboration with Green Rubber Energy Co., Ltd.
After collaborating withRCB Nanotechnologies GmbH, Marubeni Corporation recently also announced a collaboration with Green Rubber Energy Co., Ltd., one of the prominent tyre pyrolysis companies in Thailand. The company produced about 3 ktpa recovered carbon black in 2018 and had plans to upscale its production to 12 ktpa rCB. This collaboration could potentially create an interesting supply chain and ecosystem in Southeast Asia. Source: https://www.marubeni.com/en/news/2024/release/00052.html
Mitsubishi Chemical Group studies chemical recycling of ELTs repurposing coke ovens
Mitsubishi Chemical Group reported studies chemical recycling of ELTs repurposing coke ovens at its Kagawa Plant (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan). I find that quite interesting, because in theory, unused coking oven capacity could be repurposed for tyre pyrolysis. Coking ovens typically are slot-type batteries with large capacity. While this research project seems to aim at tyre pyrolysis oil ("TPO") production, I wonder what the quality of recovered carbon black might be like. For rCB, we aim at reducing coking of the polymer as much as we can, because the coking produces "carbonaceous residues" that inactivate the surfaces of the carbon blacks recovered from the tyre feedstock. Source: https://www.mcgc.com/english/news_release/02044.html
Murfitts orders Front End Engineering Design study from Vow ASA
Another interesting news comes fromVow ASA / Scanship. The company is specialised in water purification on cruise ships. In 2021, it acquired ETIA Ecotechnologies (VOW group) to add further pyrolysis capabilities to its portfolio. Earlier this month, the company announced having received a Front End Engineering Design study order from Murfitts Industries (an integrated ELT collector and processor in the EUROPEAN TYRE ENTERPRISE LIMITED / ITOCHU Corporation group). Murfitts Industries is working with Vow ASA for several years now. In 2023, the company could win over recovered carbon black experts Chris Norris and Antonio López Cerdán from the ARTIS laboratory (now Avon Protection). It plans to have an industrial plant operational in 2026. Source: https://www.vowasa.com/blog/feed-contract-with-tyre-recycling-partner-murfitts-industries
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