Systems and methods for the management of waste associated with processing guayule shrubs to extract rubber
AssigneeBridgestone Corporation
InventorsYingyi Huang, Hiroshi Mouri, Robert W. Handlos, Jenny L. Sheaffer
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Abstract
Systems and methods for managing the waste associated with the extraction of rubber from guayule shrubs are provided. Also provided is a portable local sub-station for reducing the transportation costs associated with the processing of guayule shrubs for the extraction of rubber. Use of the disclosed systems, methods and/or local sub-station can reduce transportation costs, reduce processing costs and reduce the downstream processing complexity associated with the extraction of rubber from guayule shrubs.
Claims20
A method for managing waste associated with the processing of guayule shrubs for the extraction of rubber, the method comprising:
- providing guayule shrubs comprising leaves, bark, woody material, and roots at a harvest site;
- utilizing a portable local sub-station comprising a chopper which reduces the guayule shrubs to a guayule plant matter with pieces having an average length of about ¼″ to about 4″, wherein only above-ground portions of the guayule shrubs are included in the guayule plant matter, thereby producing a semi-processed guayule material with a weight at least 5% lower than the weight of the guayule shrubs;
- and
- transporting the semi-processed guayule material to a remote rubber extraction plant capable of producing rubber, resin and waste bagasse from the semi-processed guayule material where the waste bagasse comprises at least 60% by weight of the semi-processed guayule material.
A method for managing waste associated with the processing of guayule shrubs for the extraction of rubber, the method comprising:
- providing guayule shrubs comprising leaves, bark, woody material, and roots at a harvest site;
- utilizing a portable local sub-station comprising a chopper which reduces the guayule shrubs to a guayule plant matter with pieces having an average length of about 4″, wherein only above-ground portions of the guayule shrubs are included in the guayule plant matter, thereby producing a semi-processed guayule material with a weight at least 5% lower than the weight of the guayule shrubs;
- and
- transporting the semi-processed guayule material to a remote rubber extraction plant capable of using organic solvent extraction to produce rubber, resin and waste bagasse from the semi-processed guayule material where the waste bagasse comprises at least 60% by weight of the semi-processed guayule material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.