Recent developments in waste tyre pyrolysis and gasification processes

Abstract

Waste tyre generation in South Africa is one of the issues that have not found a sustainable solution. Approximately 1.5 billion tyres are produced annually around the world, and South Africa contributes about 11 million tyres accounting to about 177 835 tons of waste annually. Numerous technologies have been used as possible pathways to recycle waste tyres. This review analyzes the main advances in waste tyre pyrolysis and gasification technologies and lists challenges and successes. For waste tyre pyrolysis, recovering high-value products such as limonene, benzene, xylene, and activated carbon can make the process profitable. For gasification, the objective of new studies is for the producer gas to have a desirable composition for further application in the production of chemicals, heat and power and synthesis of liquid fuels. Also, more research is required to fill the gap in the optimum conditions for solar integrated pyrolysis and gasification of waste tyres. A comprehensive comparative techno-economic analysis of chemicals production from waste tyre via gasification is required to determine the most commercially viable route for tyres.

Keywords:

• Waste tyres
• pyrolysis
• gasification
• life cycle assessment (LCA
• )
• techno-economic analysis
• process synthesis

Acknowledgement

The views expressed in this work are of the author and not of the University of South Africa. The authors would like to confirm that there is no conflict of interest to declare. No other parties either than those on the authorship have a stake in the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of South Africa.