Second life for old tires. Let's remember the second life of car tires

Kobzeva Anastasia

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“The second life of an abandoned tire”

Head: Gurkina M.E.
chemistry teacher.

Introduction

Relevance
Object of study
Project duration
Project type
Hypothesis
Objective of the project
Research objectives
Research methods

Main part

The history of the appearance of a car tire
Practical part:

a) Chemical composition of tires
b) Experiment

Conclusion

Results of my research work
Prospects for the development of this environmental problem in the future
My personal contribution to solving this environmental problem
Conclusions of the study.

Bibliography
Applications

I. Introduction.

Relevance: In cities, the main source of harmful substances entering the environment is motor transport.From the Internet I found out thatAbout 16 thousand waste tires are generated annually. They cannot be burned, and their burial requires considerable space and costs. So what to do about this problem?

Object of study:used car tires.

Project duration: short.

Project type: educational research project.

Hypothesis: if found safe for healthuse of worn tires, the environmental situation in the country will improve.

Objective of the project: study the composition of used tires and find a use for them that does not cause harm to humans.

Research objectives:

Study the history of the automobile tire.
Study the composition of car tires.
Find out what families of students and teachers do with old tires.
Identify safe methods for using car tires.
Present your research to your classmates.

Research methods:search, reference and information, creative search, experiment.

II. Main part

The history of the appearance of a car tire:

Car tire is one of the most important elementswheels , which are an elastic rubber-metal-fabric shell installed onrim disk. Tire provides contact vehicle withExpensive , designed to soften vibrations caused by uneven roads.

The first inventor of the tire is considered to be the Englishman Robert Thomson. In the mid-18th century, he patented his invention - a camera made of pieces of leather connected with rivets. However, his innovation did not receive practical application - simply no one was interested in this development.

The second inventor of the tire was John Dunlop, an ordinary veterinarian. The veterinarian's son could not learn to ride a bicycle. Then Dunlop made hoops from an ordinary watering hose and pumped air into them. The result simply amazed the inventor himself and all his acquaintances. As a result, in 1888, John Dunlop received a patent for his “pneumatic hoop”, which could be used for vehicles.

In the 19th century, several inventors tried to improve the tire. In 1890, a young engineer, Charles Kingston Welch, separated the tire from the tube. A little later, the Englishman Bartlett and the Frenchman Didier proposed methods for mounting and dismantling tires.

In 1895 the French Andre and Edouard Michelin– were the first to use pneumatic tires on cars.

Since 1970, the tire industry has developed more and more rapidly, and more and more competent tire manufacturers have appeared. This has led to today's diversity - because nowadays tires can be selected for any weather,type of road surface and even driving style.

Practical part:

Chemical composition of tires:

Natural rubber. 14%. It is most often used in the rubber composition of the sidewalls of models, guaranteeing elasticity and resilience.

Synthetic rubber. 27%The main element in the tire cocktail, it occupies a large share of the rubber composition and directly affects driving performance.

Soot. 28% The presented material occupies 1/3 of the composition and, as a rule, indicates such characteristics as wear resistance and strength for the product.
Silicon dioxide or silica. Silica is used primarily in the production of winter tires. Silicon dioxide provides rubber with elasticity, softness,comfort and excellent grip on wet roads. But the main advantage of silicic acid is its resistance to low temperatures.
Sulfur. 10% Sulfur is used as an auxiliary element to bind the molecules of the above-described polymers.

Emollient oils. 10%Softening elements of natural origin. Among other things, a large number of unique natural elements are used to provide certain properties.

Let's take a closer look at one of the components - soot. Soot particles can cause double strand breaks in human DNA and lead to chronic pneumonia. Soot also causes emphysema, a lung injury characterized by chronic shortness of breath.

Do you still doubt that car tires are harmful to your health?

Experiment No. 1

I conducted a survey among students in grades 8-11, as well as teachers at our school, to find out how old car tires are used in the families of the respondents.(An example of a questionnaire in Appendix 1)

Analysis of the questionnaires showed that in the families of 20% of the respondents there is no car at all, 40% store old tires in the house/dacha and consider this method safe, 30% take them to recycling points, 5% burn them and 5% are not interested in this issue .

Bottom line: Most families surveyed use old car tires incorrectly.

We will prove that burning a car tire is an unsafe method of operation.

Experiment No. 2

I talked to my dad, an experienced motorist, who told me what happens to a tire when exposed to high temperatures. Firstly, a pungent odor is released, which causes poor health and headaches. Secondly, a huge amount of soot escapes into the atmosphere, which, naturally, negatively affects both the nature around us and our health.

Conclusion: An old tire releases harmful chemicals at elevated temperatures. And not only into the air, but also into the soil. In addition, a tire is a fire hazard. Therefore, this method of using an old tire is unsafe.

All this also proves that old car tires should not be used to decorate flower beds and playgrounds, since especially in hot weather, figures from tires emit many harmful chemicals.

III. Conclusion

The result of my research work:We found that burning and decorating flower beds and playgrounds with old tires are unsafe methods for using tires.

Thus, we conclude that the only safe method is disposal.

All available tire recycling methods can be divided into two areas: physical and chemical.

There are two chemical methods - direct combustion and high-temperature processing. Tires are processed into fuel using a high-temperature method. Both methods have two big drawbacks: environmental pollution, loss of valuable secondary raw materials, such as tires.

Physical processing of tires is based on mechanical grinding, which produces crumb rubber, which is in great demand among consumers. Due to the fact that it retains many of the properties that rubber had before processing, such products are excellent for the construction industry. The crumbs are used to create rubberized asphalt, running tracks in stadiums, mats for training in gyms, insulating pads and anti-slip coatings. Despite the relatively low price of the material, products from it are of high quality.

What are the prospects for the development of this environmental problem in the future?

Due to the fact that there are few people in our country who are concerned about this problem, I assume that there will be no sharp changes in a good direction. There are no recycling points for used tires in villages and small towns. There are few people who want to take them to larger cities. Some people don’t have the opportunity for this, others don’t have time. It seems that we have begun to forget about the most important thing: health is what matters most. The health of us and the future generation! Yes, I think that changes will not happen, but everything is in our hands, we just have to want it!

What contribution can I personally offer to solve this environmental problem in our city?

Remove figures made from old waste tires from the territories of educational institutions.
Build organizations that would cooperate with factories for processing secondary raw materials.

Study conclusion:Do not throw old tires into the forest or on the side of the road. You cannot decorate flower beds and playgrounds with old tires! Give a second life to an abandoned tire wisely! Take them to recycling centers! Don't pollute our planet!

Throwing a tire is not difficult, it's easy.
Only then will it respond!
Mother Nature bends down and cries.
People, we need to think about it!
Protecting the globe is not easy,
But if not us, then who?

I V . Bibliography.

Applications

Annex 1

Check the box next to the option that suits you.

How many cars does your family have?

One
Two
More than two
No one

How often do your family change car tires?
Once a year
Once every 2 years
Your option __________
What does your family do with old tires?
We throw it out onto the street
We store it in the house/dacha
We burn
We hand over to recycling points
Your option _____________
Do you think your method of using tires is safe?

Yes
No

Thank you!

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

Don’t rush to throw away old car tires, because you can use them to make many useful things for the home or garden, for the garage or playground, and just for the street. Such items will not require a lot of material costs, but they will last a long time, because rubber is a very wear-resistant and durable material.

Of course, first of all, the tires need to be freed of all unnecessary things and thoroughly washed - after all, they have collected a lot of dust and dirt, conquering our not very comfortable roads.
Well, after drying, you can get creative and make some practical or unusual thing.

For home

For example, a table. Moreover, it can consist of two tires placed on top of each other, or of one, if you make base legs for it.

The lid can be a glass, wooden or plastic circle - depending on what you have on hand.

Under the glass lid you can create any voluminous interesting composition - from a city of the future to a Japanese rock garden. By the way, you can also place a lake there by filling some suitable container with transparent epoxy resin. In general, such a table is a real testing ground for your imagination, because the top glass can be raised at any time and the composition changed.
By the way, what do you think about a real mini-training ground - with miniature models of tanks and a landscape riddled with craters? This composition is a great surprise for small and large men on February 23rd.

This option can serve as a low table, a banquette, or a stand (for example, for flowers). A plywood circle is simply attached to the tire, and then the entire structure is wrapped and covered with thick rope.
If you coat the entire surface with furniture varnish or PVA glue, the surface will become more durable and moisture resistant.

A large “donut” wrapped in textiles is a wonderful thing for a children’s room, because children love to sit on the floor. You can sit comfortably on the donut or put toys inside.

Pets will also love it, because you can sleep or hide inside.

Another option is a low banquette completely covered in fabric. You can put an unnecessary pillow, an old thick blanket or foam rubber inside. Fill the middle and cover the whole thing with fabric. And then you can make removable covers with a zipper or elastic that are easy to wash and change according to your mood.

The option of painted tires equipped with soft seats is perfect for a veranda, garage, gazebo or yard, especially if the inner part is easy to remove and put away so that it does not become damp overnight or in case of bad weather.

Such “stools” can have legs or simply lie on the floor.

Want a new chair? Two tires, a bent plywood back, soft filling and a little work. A beautiful cover will easily hide the design, and a soft pillow will add comfort.

The stand for umbrellas and canes looks very original.

For the yard

Why not a bench? And not a shared one, but with individual soft seats and nice cushions. Such a “bench” can be fixed in the yard under a canopy, against the wall of a workshop or garage, to rest on a summer day in the air.

Practically - garden furniture! Chairs with backs and stools made of tires. To facilitate the design, the seats and backrests are made of stretched, durable cord or braided wire. And of course, a table.

Furniture can be very diverse.

Mosaic panel on a tire? Why not?

Garbage containers can also be made from tires.

For the playground

With the help of tires it is easy to equip a children's playground. Such structures can be built in the courtyard of a private house or on a free plot of an urban residential area.

By hanging the tires on thick, strong ropes, you can make a swing. Moreover, adults can also swing on them.

If you have nowhere to mount a hanging swing, then why not just make a rocking chair from a large tire and a long board. Unlike conventional rocking chairs, here you do not need metal hinges.

By the way, the rocking chair can be made wider and more stable if you use not one, but two tires and slightly change the design of the swing.

By showing your imagination, you can build a lot of funny little animals from tires, setting up a whole zoo on the playground. Look what a wonderful turtle! And the shell is just an old metal basin.

What boy doesn't dream of becoming a racer? You can start with this machine.

An asphalt paver is a machine that few people get to drive. But not in this case.

Tires can be used to build towers and fortresses, obstacle courses and slides. Unlike wood, metal or stone, such structures are much less traumatic for children.

A sandbox for a baby is an integral part of any home or cottage where there are children. And the easiest way to make it is from a large tire, attaching a sun umbrella in the center. This sandbox can be easily moved if necessary or covered with film in case of rain. Simply remove the umbrella, stretch the cover and tuck the edges under the tire.

Also, to keep the sand clean, you can put a round wooden lid on the sandbox and remove it only during play. In this case, you can be firmly confident that your or your neighbor's cats will not make a toilet there, that garbage, shards of broken glass or practice, or old nails and other dangerous objects will not get into the sand, especially if the sandbox is located near the garage or workshop.

You can fence off a children's playground with all those tires - simply by digging them vertically to the desired depth. You can sit on such a fence, you can run on it, jump on it, and in many other ways you can include it in children’s games.

For garden

A garden pond made from a large tire is just a brilliant idea! Thick rubber walls will perfectly protect the internal polyethylene coating from accidental damage. By the way, you can also put rubber cut into strips under the bottom of the tire so that the polyethylene does not touch the ground (especially if it is quite rocky).

And of course, the most obvious thing that tires can be used for is flower beds. They can be high and low, multi-tiered, figured and even hanging - in the form of flowerpots.

Sometimes perennials, bushes or trees are planted in the center of the tire to make it more convenient to care for the plant: water, fertilize, remove weeds.

Garden compositions that include a flower bed and garden sculpture look very interesting. They can be placed in the most unexpected places on the site.

In the spring, any owner tries to improve and decorate his site. This could be the courtyard of a large house, a summer cottage, or a children's playground. Creative ideas and unusual structures amaze us more and more every year. Skilled craftsmen create beauty from any materials and things. Surely everyone has been familiar with flower beds and fences made of tires since childhood. Without limiting their imagination, skilled craftsmen offer many options for crafts made from car tires.

Necessary materials for tire crafts

Crafts made from tires will easily decorate and refresh any area. Unusual decorations will delight the eye and will not leave any child indifferent. Such crafts can be practical and decorative.

If you have old tires lying around, then spring is just the right time to put them to use. At the preparatory stage, carefully consider all the details and make a list of what you may need during the work - this will significantly save time in the future. You will definitely need:

tires (as many as needed for the idea being implemented);
a knife that will cut tires well;
exterior paints;
tassels;
screws;
screwdriver;
plywood;
shovel.

Supplement this list according to your request, because your imagination is not limited.

Practical country crafts from car tires

The dacha plot perfectly reflects the face of its owner. It is at the dacha that a person, with his work and care, creates an unforgettable and unique place for relaxation. Not always and not everyone has the financial opportunity to purchase ready-made products for the garden. Also, not everyone has the desire to do this when there is an opportunity to try themselves in a new type of creativity.

Tire ottoman

For this product you will need: a tire, hemp or jute rope, two plywood circles, self-tapping screws, varnish, glue. As well as a set of tools: drill, scissors, brush.

plywood circles should match the tire in diameter;
We place plywood circles on the tire and make holes with a drill;
We screw screws into the created holes, thereby securing the plywood to the tire;
we do this on both sides;
Next we decorate the workpiece; for this you will need rope and glue. We start gluing the rope from the center of the plywood. We glue the rope in a circle, gradually gluing the plywood, the tire, and then, reaching the second side of the plywood, we cut the rope and glue it. We also begin gluing the second side of the plywood from the center;
Since the pouf will be used outdoors, it should be protected. Spraying with varnish will help with this;
When the varnish dries, the pouf will be ready for use.

Flower beds made from tires

If your acquaintance with tire products has just begun, then it is better to give preference to simple options. For example, you can make a small flower bed in the shape of a flower:

take 4 tires;
Cut 3 of them in half (to make halves). It is better to cut such material with a shoe knife or jigsaw;
paint all the tires. A brush or spray can is suitable for this. Choose a color that will match the future plants in the flowerbed;
lay the tire halves in the form of petals, fill with prepared soil;
Place the whole tire in the middle of the flower and also fill it with soil.

Another simple version of a flower bed made from tires is a pyramid flower bed:

take 5 tires (you can have more if you wish);
paint all tires in the desired color;
In two tires, attach a round sheet of plywood to one side, thus organizing the bottom. Make several holes in this bottom;
lay 3 tires in a row and fill with soil,
At the intersections of the tires, install 2 tires with a bottom on top and also fill them with soil.

The flowerbed can also be suspended:

think about what the bottom of your flowerbed will be like. This could be a bottom made of a sheet of plywood, a rubber bottom, or you can do without it if you install a flowerpot in the tire-bed itself;
attach a strong metal chain to the tire (a rope or thick cord will also work);
paint the tire in the chosen color;
when it is completely dry, install it in a previously prepared place.

Country paths

Another option for using tires in a summer cottage is to create a path out of them. If you have always thought about the need to build a path and put it off due to labor intensity or financial costs, then this is your option:

Using a sharp knife, separate the tire tread from the sidewalls. To make this task easier, do not forget to periodically lubricate the knife with soapy water, and also be extremely careful;
the resulting treadmill element from the tire must also be cut to form a kind of rubber band;
do this work with the number of tires that you need to create the track;
the width of the track is determined independently by the owner, but usually it is 3-4 tires wide;
Be sure to level the area for the path: remove the top layer of earth and fill it with fine gravel or a thin layer of concrete. After this, you can lay out the rubber tracks;
Another option for laying a rubber track: nail the rubber blanks to the boards and lay the boards like a track.

A ladder path is one of the options for using tires in a country house:

you will need whole tires;
lay the tires on the ground, starting from the bottom level;
When laying out the tires, push them a little deeper into the ground;
Pour filler inside the lined tires. Natural soil is suitable for this;
To prevent slipping in wet weather, sprinkle the finished staircase with gravel.

Tire pool

You can make a small pond on your site without any special financial costs; you can use car tires. For a small decorative pond, tires of any size are suitable, but if you want to make a kind of pool in which you can plunge, it is better to use tractor tires.

prepare the basic material: a bag of cement, sand;
select the area where the pool will be located. Clean it, remove the top layer of soil down to the clay. Cover the top with a sand “cushion” and then with cement. For this you will need about two buckets of cement, its layer should be at least 20 cm;
cut the top of the tire with a knife down to the tread, leaving a small edge;
We also cut off a little rubber from the bottom so that the bottom is smooth;
to prevent the pool from leaking when the rubber is displaced, fill its bottom with molten tar;
after that, lay a film on the bottom (this can be purchased at hardware stores) and carefully fill the pool with water;
Next, give the outside of the pool an aesthetic appearance. You can use anything: brickwork, decorative plaster, painting.

Decorative decorations for a plot of tires

You can make decorative elements for your summer cottage with your own hands using old car tires. Unusual figures, fairy-tale characters, swings, sandboxes - all this will become the highlight of your yard and a favorite place for children.

Tire swing

prepare the necessary materials: a strong branch, a sharp knife and jigsaw, a chain or strong rope, a tire;
tie the end of the rope into a loop, making the knots strong;
Throw a loop over the branch, pass the rest of the rope through it and tighten;
Place the tire perpendicular to the ground;
pass the rope through the tire and attach it at a height of 80-90 cm from the ground.

Sandbox

Sandbox made from one (large) tire:

prepare the selected area, dig a small depression - its diameter should not be larger than the diameter of the tire;
cut the top of the tire so that it is free;
the cut edges must be processed, it is better to do this using a cut rubber hose;
after that, color the sandbox to your liking;
after the paint has dried, you can install the tire and fill it with sand;
An additional element of such a sandbox can be an umbrella or canopy in the center of the sandbox to create shade.

Garden figures

A tire palm will become an original and fresh decoration for your site:

flatten the tire by cutting it with a sharp knife or jigsaw;
then, on the prepared rubber, draw the outlines of palm branches with a contrasting pencil;
Next, cut out the rubber palm branches with a jigsaw;
paint it green;
Attach the finished leaves using nails to outdated tree trunks.

We start work by marking the tire;
from the middle of the tire we outline the neck, from the sidewalls - the wings;
cut out the wings and neck so that the lower part of the tire remains intact;
We bend the cut out parts of the neck and wings and give them the desired look. You can use metal rods for this;
We paint the finished product in the colors of the swan.

Sun:

on both sides of the tire we nail cut out plywood circles;
prepare the area for installation, dig out a small recess, a third of the height of the tire should go in;
install the tire in the recess and dig in;
we paint the tire yellow; it would be original to draw eyes, a mouth, and a nose on the sun’s face;
When the tire is dry, we begin installing the beams. You can use any plastic bottles as rays - we glue them all over the rim;
after that we paint the rays with yellow paint.

It is important to follow a few simple rules when working with tires:

accuracy when working with a knife and sharp instruments;
Apply paint to clean tires, previously degreased;
let the paint dry well;
foreign tires have thinner rubber, so it will be easier to work with them.

There are an incredible number of options for landscape design using tires, but the main source is your imagination. You may not have many ideas right now, but as you get creative, they will definitely appear.

It's no secret that used and abandoned tires pollute the environment. The Internet with its own extraordinary ideas offers to alleviate the current situation. crafts made from old tires.

Belgian artist Wime Delvoye surprises even sophisticated audiences with his art projects. Several years ago, the artist became interested in carving car tires, and as a result, real lace works of art were born, which continue to replenish his collection.

Just recently, I had no idea that tires could be used to make furniture that would not be embarrassing to place in the most sophisticated interior. This table with forged legs is an example of this.

Garden furniture made from tires will also not leave anyone indifferent, much better and more original than garden furniture made from plastic, which tends to fly away with the wind.

And this furniture, made from bicycle tires, is up for sale and will decorate a country house or city balcony.

An interior chair in high-tech style for a teenager’s room or art workshop.

Coffee tables with a mirror top are quite easy to make.

Is it possible to understand that these bright ottomans covered with fabric once rubbed their sides against the gray strip of the highway?

In the living room or garage, in the country house or garden, this brutal chair will show that a real man lives here.

I think not many of you imagined that lighting fixtures could be made from tires. This chandelier will decorate some men's club for bikers.

And this can please a teenager’s room.

A completely unexpected solution for the bathroom.

And of course, summer tires are an excellent material for children’s playgrounds and, of course, swings. Any man can master such a swing.

It’s a pity that our Russian playgrounds don’t have such a wonderful climbing wall made of motorcycle tires.

The fence of a country house can also be a flowerbed.

Perhaps someone living on a hill will take note of this original path from a steep slope.

Tires as roof covering.

There are no limits to the ideas for vertical gardening, and perhaps it is the most common.

Text: Ekaterina Khvorova | 2014-04-01 | Photo: Aliapur | 22071

One of the important issues in improving urban ecology or designing new eco-cities is the effective recycling of car tires. Currently, there is a fairly diverse list of ways to do this.

In contact with

Classmates

End-of-life car tires are a fairly serious environmental problem. Even in Russia, on January 1, 2012, a national standard came into force, establishing requirements for the environmentally friendly disposal of used tires (GOST R 54095-2010). According to the information given in the text of the document, the global reserves of used tires are estimated at 25 million tons, and the annual increase in used tires is at least 7 million tons (10.5 billion units), of which European countries account for about 30% . Only 23% of used tires are used in the future, including through export to other countries, burning, shredding, etc. The remaining 77% is simply buried or stored in landfills, mainly due to the lack of a cost-effective disposal method.

But experts believe that disposal of used tires should be used only in the absence of economically acceptable alternatives. Often, it becomes profitable to recycle or recycle tires only under conditions of strict environmental standards and fines for improper handling of such “waste,” or under conditions of government financial support. At the same time, tire processing projects will be economically much more attractive when the next stage of processing is included in the process - that is, if we mean obtaining crumb rubber, then not only and not so much for sale, but for the production of our own second-process products, which are in demand and have sufficient high price on the market.

From the point of view of storing used tires in landfills or landfills (both intended exclusively for used tires and mixed with other waste), there is a high risk of their ignition. Worn tires are a source of long-term environmental pollution, as they are not biodegradable and serve as sources of infectious diseases. Therefore, when burying, tires are crushed into squares of 100 cm 2 and laid at an angle in layers 1-2 m high; each such layer is covered with earth 20-25 cm thick. A layer of turf 30 cm thick is applied to the entire burial area.

In some countries, the disposal of tires that have completed their life cycle is prohibited. In Germany, Japan and the Scandinavian countries, the recycling rate of waste tires is close to 100%, the EU average is 82%; in other countries – only 10-15%.

A small part of used tires is used without any processing - to strengthen the coast, create artificial reefs, erosion barriers, breakwaters and breakwaters, to protect against impacts of ships when moored, to create shock-proof barriers on roads, shock-absorbing fences, flower beds, etc. In construction, tires filled with cement are used to create the base of foundations.

The majority of used tires are disposed of by incineration (in France - 18%, Great Britain - 30%, Germany - 50%, Japan - 70%). The rest are either restored, crushed into crumbs or decomposed chemically.

Refurbishment of used tires can be carried out in two ways. The first, used only for truck tires, is regrooving the tread. The possibility of such a restoration of a truck tire is associated with its high safety margin - the tire frame guarantees its service life, up to 6 times longer than the life of the tread. The second method, which can be used for all types of tires, is to apply a new tread with partial addition of crumb rubber. This method is economical, since not all components of a car tire are restored, but only the tread. Applying a new tread allows the tire to be 80% reusable. However, tires can only be retreaded using this method a limited number of times. In addition, it is advisable to retread only high-quality tires with a solid base. The production of retreaded tires in OECD countries is a well-developed industry. But in Russian conditions, complete tire retreading is cost-effective only for premium tires. If we consider technologies for restoring worn tires, we can distinguish hot (welding) and cold methods. The hot restoration method involves cutting and hot vulcanizing a special smooth tape with parallel application of a tread pattern. For cold vulcanization, tapes with a pre-applied pattern are used, which are stretched on a special machine and put on a prepared breaker. There is also a method that involves gluing a tire that has been cleared of the old tread and a new tread, followed by vulcanization. Subsequently, retreaded tires again become unusable, which again leads to the problem of their recycling.

The method of recycling car tires by burning them is considered quite effective due to their high thermal potential. Thus, the heat of combustion of 1 ton of used tires is equivalent to the heat of combustion of 1 ton of high-quality coal or 0.7 tons of liquid fuel. In this case, you can burn both crumb rubber and whole tires. Burning of whole old tires often occurs in cement production kilns or at thermal power plants. Recently, this practice has become less common: in cement production, the number of tires used as fuel is technologically limited, since the steel contained in tires colors the material and negatively affects the quality of cement, and burning tires at thermal power plants has become unprofitable due to increased fines due to environmental dangers of such use. Burning crumb rubber also poses a significant environmental hazard, as a lot of harmful substances are released into the atmosphere. However, for example, in the USA, most pulp mills use crumb rubber. But, perhaps, the main argument “against” is the fact that when used tires are burned, chemically valuable substances contained in the tire material are destroyed, and which can be obtained through other processing methods. A compromise is to use crumb rubber as an additive to the main fuel - usually in the region of 10-15%.

The main components of car tires are materials such as rubber (about 71%), metal threads and wire (21%), textile cord (8%). These are valuable materials that, especially in conditions of depletion of natural resources, are at least not wise to throw away or bury in the ground. Rubber extracted from tires is used in construction and the manufacture of a wide range of rubber products. Textile cord is used as a raw material for the manufacture of heat and sound insulation materials, for plugging wells during drilling, and as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of composite elastomeric materials. Metal cord is used as a raw material for the production of steel and reinforcing filler for building and road structures.

There are several well-known methods for separating worn tires into valuable components.

The most traditional and familiar way of recycling tires is to grind them to obtain rubber crumbs of varying degrees of dispersion. There are a large number of variations of this technology, but they all have one thing in common - the components of the tire (rubber and reinforcing materials) do not undergo physical and chemical changes and retain their structure.

Shredding tires, as a rule, does not require complex technology and equipment, which indicates the cost-effectiveness of this method. Rubber shredded by a shredder is divided depending on the size of the crumbs and is subsequently used in the production of new tires, in road construction, in the creation of special sports surfaces, roof coverings, and decorative tiles. One of the problems with the further use of crumb rubber is the different quality requirements of subsequent consumers. Thus, the use of crumb rubber to create new rubber products requires its complete purification from the metals contained in the tire carcass. Consequently, there is a need to complicate the technological process of separating tires into components. Good results in separating rubber from steel cord can be achieved in various ways, for example, separation in an electromagnetic field. Ultimately, the resulting crumbs become more expensive, which does not always suit the potential consumer. Similar problems arise when using crumb rubber in the construction industry (road pavements and insulating materials). To obtain a homogeneous product with the required properties, it is necessary to select a recipe based on the quality characteristics of all constituent materials. However, crumb rubber obtained from different batches of raw materials will vary significantly in composition, since it is difficult to submit only a batch of tires of a certain type and from one manufacturer for grinding. Significantly better results are achieved when using crumbs in the production of paving slabs, coverings for sports arenas, rugs and roofing.

One of the types of tire cutting technology is low-temperature crushing. Using liquid nitrogen or refrigeration machines, tires are cooled to a temperature of about -60 degrees Celsius, after which they are sent for cutting. Processing rubber that has been converted into a brittle state significantly reduces energy costs for crushing, improves the separation of metal and textiles from rubber, and increases rubber yield. On the other hand, cooling also requires significant energy consumption.

Another approach using cryogenic technologies is of great interest. Tires are frozen to a temperature of -110-120 degrees, after which they are subjected to explosive circulation shredding in a special chamber. Explosion technology is very cheap because it does not require a cutting tool and is not associated with expensive service. The crushing action of the explosion simultaneously acts as a cutting tool and an energy carrier. Under the influence of an explosion, the cooled tire expands 3-4 times, maintaining its integrity, and only then does its material collapse into tiny fragments. This effect is due to the fact that during an explosion, high deformation rates of frozen tires are realized, leading to their destruction. The parameters of the crushing action of the explosion are very high and sufficient to destroy any existing types and types of tires. In this case, the metal cord remains intact, and the rubber crumbs simply fall off from it. This technology was developed by the domestic company Explotex, for which it was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in 2007. The tire processing plant, built in 2004 on the basis of explosion-circulation grinding, operates in the Vladimir region, in the city of Raduzhny. The technology is patented in 45 countries.

Another promising technology for crushing tires is their processing by passing ozone (cutting with an ozone knife), under the influence of which the tire crumbles into fine crumbs and is separated from the metal and textile cord. The technology was presented in 2000 by Russian scientists from the Trinity Technological Laboratory participating in the OK-Technology project. The technology is quite economical and environmentally friendly, since ozone oxidizes all generated harmful emissions. This method of recycling tires was awarded a gold medal at the 26th International Salon of Inventions, held in the spring of 2000 in Geneva. In addition to the Russians, the project involves the American OK Tech Inc., which is the holder of OK technology patents and carries out licensing activities, and the English OK Tech Alliance Ltd., which designs and supplies recycling lines for used tires using OK technology.

Finally, crumb rubber can also be obtained using pressure. The technology is based on the phenomenon of “pseudo-liquefaction” of rubber at high pressures and its flow through the holes of a special chamber. Rubber and textile cord are separated from the metal cord and bead rings, crushed and come out of the holes in the form of primary rubber-fabric crumbs, which are subjected to further processing: regrinding and separation. The metal cord is removed from the chamber in the form of a compressed briquette. The developer of this technology is also a Russian company – the Perm State Research and Production Enterprise “Kord-ex”. The technology was introduced at the Astor enterprise (Perm), protected by patents and also received a number of awards.

The next group of tire recycling technologies involves partial destruction of the spatial structure of rubber and rubber - for example, the technology of dissolving the rubber of used tires in a solution based on organic compounds. The resulting suspension can later be used to create rubber products with partial use of the processed product. The main disadvantage of this technology is its high energy and capital intensity, and, consequently, its high cost. In the domestic industry, three main methods were used to produce rubber reclaim - a plastic material that can be vulcanized by adding vulcanizing agents to it and partially replace rubber in rubber mixtures: steam (about 15%), water-neutral (40%) and thermomechanical (45%). Regardless of the regeneration method, rubber products (mainly car tires) first undergo preparatory operations of sorting and grinding. With the steam method, crumb rubber is mixed with softeners and treated in a devulcanization boiler with live steam under a pressure of 1.0 MPa at a temperature of 180 degrees for 708 hours. The resulting devulcanization product is filtered, homogenized and plasticized. The main disadvantage of the steam method is the production of a regenerate that is inhomogeneous in terms of plasticity due to the lack of mixing of the devulcanized mass. A significantly higher quality regenerate is obtained using a water-neutral method. The process of devulcanization of de-woven rubber is carried out in vertical autoclaves equipped with stirrers in an aqueous emulsion of softeners at 180 degrees for 5-8 hours. At the end of the devulcanization process, the contents are transferred under slight pressure to a buffer tank, from where it enters a mesh drum for separation from water. Further mechanical processing of the devulcanizate to obtain a regenerate is carried out similarly to the steam treatment. Technically, the most advanced method of rubber regeneration is the thermomechanical method, which allows to significantly speed up the technological process. When producing reclaimed material using the thermomechanical method, de-textured rubber crumb is continuously mixed with softeners and passed through a worm-type devulcanizer at a temperature of 140-210 degrees, followed by processing on refining rollers. The regenerate produced in this way is more homogeneous and plastic than the regenerate obtained by the water-neutral method.

In our country, such methods of reclaim production as the dispersion method and the radiation method are also used. The dispersing method involves mechanically grinding rubber to a finely dispersed state in an aqueous environment. The process is carried out in the presence of devulcanization activators and surfactants at low temperatures (40-60 C), which prevents the growth of oxidative processes and significant changes in the rubber components of rubber during regeneration. To regenerate rubber based on butyl rubber, the radiation method can be used. In the future, the reclaim can be used in the production of rubber products (hoses, gaskets, etc.), automotive parts and products, railway sleepers and under-rail spacers, mixed and dynamic thermoplastic elastomers (raw materials for the production of shoe soles, cable insulation, electrical appliance parts, roofing, waterproofing, sealing materials, etc.).

Finally, there are technologies that lead to the complete destruction of the rubber component. In addition to direct combustion, these also include pyrolysis - the thermal decomposition of tires carried out without access to air into several fractions of hydrocarbons and a residue in the form of soot. Carbon black is reused in the production of tires, as well as in the production of rubber compounds. Hydrocarbons (most often fuel oil) are used as fuel. This processing method not only requires complex, expensive equipment, but is also very energy-intensive. At the same time, pyrolysis meets European standards and is considered environmentally friendly. Recycling tires using pyrolysis allows you to obtain energy resources and not pollute the atmosphere as much as happens when burning them. But the resulting products are of rather low quality and cannot be freely sold on the market.