CRYOGENIC

RECYCLING

NEED FOR RECYCLING

The problem of processing scrap is a major

concern with the ever increasing production

and population.
Automobile industry is a major contributor of
scrap, especially scrap steel and rubber (tires).
Rubber (tires) recycling not only has economic
value, but also helps reduce the disposal
problem of a worldwide production of more than
300 million tires per year, leading to land filling.
From coast-to-coast and also in the heartland,
landfill costs and tipping fees have risen
dramatically in the last few years and are
expected to continue to rise.

NEED FOR RECYCLING (contd)

A number of landfills have closed their doors

to tires and scrap steel, already making reutilization of scrap by manufacturers a viable
economic alternative.
Concern over nitrosoamines, heavy metal
contamination, and concern about effects on
the water table of deteriorating rubber
products further drives the incentive toward
recycling of these materials.
From an environmental standpoint, cryogenic
recycling makes solid economic sense and is
in the best interest of both manufacturer and
consumer.

WASTE TO A USEFUL RAW MATERIAL

In rubber processing there will

always be some scrap, which

needs
to
be
minimized,
otherwise it will lead to land
filling.
The cryogenic recycling system
can economically turn the scrap
into a raw material again - even
if we produce as little rubber
scrap as 200 kg per day.
It is widely believed that the
finer
the
rubber
powder
reintroduced into compound,
the less visible the defects and
change of properties.

WASTE TO A USEFUL RAW

MATERIAL (contd)
Cryogenic treatment processes can reduce

rubber scrap to less than 100 micron

powder.
The rubber granules are put through a
highly efficient cooling conveyor, sized for
particular purpose.
The liquid nitrogen embrittles the rubber
crushing it, before it is fed into the mill for
grinding.
Steel scraps in auto-industries can also be
treated by cooling it to cryogenic
temperatures where impact resistance

TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON FAILURE RATE

Straining rate is the

rate of change of
shape of the object
without it breaking.
It can be observed
from the graph that
the strain rate
decreases with
decrease in
temperature.
The advantage of this
fact could be utilised
in the cryogenic
recycling process

PRINCIPLE
Many scrap materials are mixtures of materials

having vastly different ductility at common low

temperatures which permit separation.
At

210K, rubber is very brittle & steel is not as

brittle.
Thus, an automobile tire can be cryogenically
crushed to give rubber powder and separated steel.
Copper, aluminium and stainless steel retain their
ductility at 145K, but steel does not.
Thus articles in a cryogenic crusher would provide
steel particles and copper uncrushed which can be
separated by various screening and magnetic
processes.

SCRAP RECYCLING
PROCESS

RECYCLING PROCESS
The cryogen, liquid nitrogen at 77K is in the

cryo tank and is thermally insulated.

A conveyor is used to charge the scrap into
the tank through a tunnel.
It is charged to the cryogen bath and cooled
to 145K.
Cooling of the scrap simultaneously leads to
vaporisation of liquid nitrogen.
Then,the scrap is removed from the bath and
is broken by a breaker.
A curtain is used to seal the cryogen on the
withdrawal of scrap steel from the tank.

RECYCLING PROCESS
(contd)
The scrap is cooled counter currently with

the vaporised effluent nitrogen which rises

from the cryo tank and is exhausted
through the tunnel.
Additional liquid nitrogen may be
introduced to make up for the losses in the
system.
A gas recycle duct is employed with a
blower to recycle refrigerant gas from the
tunnel back to the refrigeration recovery
tunnel.
If, we consider steel for instance, the
required refrigeration is approximately1gm

UTILITIES OF RECYCLING
The recycled scrap can be used as a raw material in

various applications.
About 12 million scrap tires a year are made into
rubberised asphalt which is used to resurface
federal interstates and highways in many states in
the USA.
In northern Virginia, road builders have combined
shredded tire rubber with cement to form whisper
walls that reflect sound waves from traffic and
reduces noise level, sparing local residents ears.
They are also used for tracks, RR crossings and
tennis courts. Also, some are burned in coal fires for
power and cement plants reduces mercury
pollution.

FUTURE SCOPE
As opportunities for disposal of scrap

materials diminish, similar opportunities

arise by necessity for alternative uses of
recycled rubber materials.
Advances in state-of-the-art partitioning
and separation technology will allow
particle size reduction costs.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) in tvs,
computers, & other electronic items
produce lot of scrap. The rich content of
precious metals like gold, silver, palladium
in PCB scraps provides a strong economic

FUTURE SCOPE (contd)

The liquefied gas industry is less susceptible to

price increases associated with petroleum

dependent materials and technologies.
Thus increases in processing costs in the
cryogenic recycling industry are forecast to
increase at a rate lower than the general
increase in the majority of petroleum-derived
materials used in rubber.
This encourages utilization of the technology for
continued cost reduction and performance
improvement.

THANK YOU