Tire Pyrolysis

In last 10 years, batch type tire pyrolysis plants have been installed across the world and are known for the cheap price but compromised safety. A typical batch tire pyrolysis plant has 5MT to 12MT loading capacity of tires. This article reviews the environmental, health and safety concerns regarding batch tire pyrolysis plants. Hundreds of workers, operators and investors have died in such batch type tire plants due to explosion or accident.

Accident Risks In Batch Tire Pyrolysis Plants

• Lack of Efficient Pollution Control Equipment — The facility emits a huge quantity of suspended particulate matter in the air, and powder carbon lies everywhere in and around the facility. There is no gas handling system to store and burn toxic pyrolysis gas, so the excess gas is released into the environment, causing emission issues, endangering human health, and spreading bad smell around the industry.
• Manual Temperature Control of Reactor — Mistakes by the operator can lead to overheating and reactor explosion, while under-heating of the reactor leads to plant insufficiency. The process requires highly vigilant and experienced manpower.
• Wrong Selection of Reactor Construction Material — Reactor metal is damaged by direct heating and the opening of welding joints, leading to reactor explosion within 2 years.
• Manual Carbon Removal from Reactor — Workers become coated in black carbon dust, and carbon particles accumulate in their lungs, affecting their health and causing numerous lung diseases. Toxic carbon spreads through the plant, and the reactor must be opened to remove carbon, with no provision that ensures 100% prevention of accident due to carbon catching fire. Most fires and accidents in batch tire plants happen when the reactor is opened while the carbon inside is above 100 degrees Celsius; every day, during reactor door opening, there is danger of explosion and accident.
• Frequent Clogging of Reactor Vapor Line — The reactor vapor line gets clogged due to bitumen produced in the reaction and needs to be cleaned every 2 to 3 days. If the vapor line becomes completely clogged, it leads to a massive explosion and life hazards.
• Unpredictable Pressure Build-Up in Reactor — The reactor’s safety pressure release systems are tiny and insufficient in size and never work, adding to the health hazard in case of high reactor pressure.
• Lack of Gas Burner System — Heavy black smoke pours from the chimney, and gas back-fire leads to worker skin burns and accidents.

Given below are the post-explosion photos of typical batch type tire pyrolysis plants.

Learn More:

• Tire Pyrolysis
• Recovered Carbon Black
• Pyrolysis Oil
• Retreading And Circular Tyre Manufacturing

Safer Tire Pyrolysis Plants

Batch tire pyrolysis plants have been linked to explosions and worker deaths, with poor pollution controls and manual reactor handling compounding the danger at every stage.

Klean Industries engineers continuous tire pyrolysis systems with automated controls, gas handling and pollution abatement built in from the outset.

Concerned about plant safety ?

Contact Klean Industries about Tire Pyrolysis » GO.