Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
Feasibility Study — Pre-FEED
Organizations Involved:
Klean Industries and confidential project participants
Services / Equipment:
Design & Engineering, Due Diligence, Supply Chain Management
We have developed a qualified route for tire pyrolysis oil into carbon black manufacturing, connecting the oil recovered from end-of-life tires with the production of reinforcing material for new tires and rubber products. Successful furnace validation across multiple markets and supply sources, with product quality, uptime and compliance maintained in the evaluated applications.
This work gives tire recyclers a further materials market for their oil and gives carbon black manufacturers access to a circular feedstock supported by application testing. Our contribution connects both sides: preparing oil to meet the customer’s requirements and developing the supply arrangements needed to keep that customer’s process running consistently.
The Challenge
Meet the furnace requirements and sustain the supply
Carbon black manufacturers depend on feedstock consistency to produce the properties their customers require. A tire-derived oil must be assessed against the receiving plant’s specification, operating conditions and intended carbon black grades. Its suitability has to carry through from a sample into furnace performance and repeatable supply.
For a TPO producer, this creates a demanding market-entry task. Oil characterization, blending, customer qualification and delivery arrangements must work together. The commercial opportunity depends on supplying a material the manufacturer can use with confidence in its process.
The Solution
Develop and validate a consistent blendstock
Our programme characterized the oil and developed blends to a stable specification. The work then extended into validation in an operating carbon black furnace, addressing how the feedstock performed in the customer’s production process.
The evaluated applications maintained product quality, uptime and compliance. Qualification across multiple markets and supply sources broadened the experience beyond a single oil sample or laboratory run. It established practical knowledge of how to connect recovered-oil characteristics with carbon black manufacturing requirements.
Bring the tire’s biobased contribution into the feedstock proposition
Natural rubber contributes biogenic carbon to tire pyrolysis oil. A typical biobased fraction of 35–40% in the TPO addressed by this programme, with composition and verification assessed by supply source.
That reported fraction gives manufacturers a further attribute to evaluate alongside circular origin and furnace performance. Biobased content, recycled content and lifecycle carbon intensity are assessed separately; the feedstock’s biobased fraction is not itself a measure of emissions savings.
Connect qualification with a dependable supply strategy
We source TPO through its project network and longer-term supply partnerships. The commercial work connects those sources with the customer’s required specification, production volumes and delivery arrangements.
For the buyer, this means developing supply around the furnace’s needs. For the oil producer, it means understanding what must be characterized, controlled and demonstrated to enter that market. We bring experience of both the material and the industrial relationship needed to place it.
The Outcome
A qualified materials application for the oil stream
Our work established TPO blendstock suitable for the evaluated carbon black applications, supported by furnace validation across multiple markets and supply sources. It demonstrates that recovered tire oil can meet the requirements of an industrial materials customer and support a route back into tire and rubber manufacturing.
The oil route complements the recovery of the tire’s solid carbon fraction. Pyrolysis char can be upgraded into recovered carbon black (rCB), while qualified TPO can be used to manufacture new furnace carbon black with circular feedstock content. These are distinct processes, creating opportunities to return both carbon-bearing pyrolysis streams to materials markets.
The project remains at feasibility study and pre-FEED for the development scope presented here. The qualification achievements provide an established basis for further supply and project development, with each receiving plant and oil source evaluated for its intended application.
1. Furnace validation gives the opportunity commercial substance. Successful qualification across multiple markets and supply sources, maintaining product quality, uptime and compliance in the evaluated applications.
2. The oil stream can support a further route into tire materials. TPO-based furnace carbon black complements char-to-rCB upgrading, broadening the materials markets available to an integrated tire recycling business.
3. We connect feedstock attributes with customer requirements. The reported typical 35–40% biobased fraction sits alongside oil specification, furnace performance and supply development in the commercial proposition.
These are selected achievements and lessons. Further technical and commercial insights are available through an engagement with Klean.
WHAT DO THESE LESSONS MEAN FOR YOUR PROJECT?
For TPO producers and integrated tire recyclers
Engage we to assess your oil against the requirements of a carbon black feedstock application. Representative samples, analytical data, production consistency, available volumes and delivery location establish the starting point for a paid qualification and market-development scope. For businesses producing rCB from pyrolysis char, this is an opportunity to develop the accompanying oil stream into another saleable materials input.
For carbon black manufacturers and project developers
We can assess qualified TPO sourcing through its project network and supply partnerships. Share the receiving process requirements, target volumes and delivery needs so the technical and commercial scope can be defined. The work connects feedstock qualification with supply planning and the customer’s acceptance process.
For new plants or equipment developments, the pathway begins with a paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ), followed by a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED). The DEQ engagement package outlines the scope; the paid DEQ proposal supplies the preliminary technical and commercial information for the investment decision.
Discuss Securing Qualified TPO Supply or Getting Your TPO Qualified with Klean >> GO.
ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case presents our TPO qualification achievements and carbon black feedstock development programme. Reported furnace performance and biobased fractions relate to the evaluated applications and supply sources. Confidential participant identities, formulations, test records and commercial arrangements are addressed within an agreed engagement and appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
This project addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by considering the goals and associated targets illustrated by the WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP). TIP provides a framework for action that outlines impactful pathways for the tire sector to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To learn more about how our approach, solutions, and technologies contribute to advancing the SDGs, please review the report “Sustainability Driven: Accelerating Impact with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap”.
