Apparatus and method for thermally demanufacturing tires and other waste products
AssigneePRTI Global Management LLC
InventorsWayne Machon, Jason Williams
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and process for thermally de-manufacturing tires and other materials. The apparatus is a retort chamber with various zones in which tires are combusted to provide energy for the thermal depolymerization reaction, depolymerization takes place, and products leave the retort chamber. In one embodiment, the process reacts water with iron present in steel-belted tires to produce hydrogen, which helps to break sulfur-sulfur bonds in vulcanized materials. The water also helps control the temperature of the reaction, which allows for control over the types and relative amounts of the various depolymerization products.
Claims25
A retort chamber comprising:
- a) a top,
- b) a bottom,
- c) a heater at or near the bottom of the retort chamber capable of heating the bottom to a temperature between about 900 and 1300° C.,
- d) two or more inlet ports located at or near the bottom of the retort chamber,
- e) one or more outlet ports located at or near the top of the retort chamber,
- f) temperature monitors at or near the top and bottom of the retort chamber,
- g) a temperature monitor located at a position between about 30 and about 70% of the distance between the top and the bottom of the retort chamber, and
- h) a vacuum line or aspirator located in the upper third of the retort chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.