Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and Swedish oil company Nynas AB are launching a joint research project with Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) to develop a process for refining pyrolysis oil recovered from end-of-life tires. As reported by Enviro, refining process will allow the oil to be used in more than fuel, which both increases the value of the recovered oil and reduces the environmental impact.

“This project seeks to increase the economic and environmental profitability of both tire pyrolysis and tire recycling in general, and to promote the sustainable conversion of refineries for base oil production,” says Linda Sandström, the project manager at RISE ETC.

Enviro reports that nearly a year ago, a research project led by RISE in collaboration with Enviro and Ragn-Sells showed that the oil extracted through Enviro’s pyrolysis technology from end-of-life tires after reprocessing can be mixed in and used as a fuel such as diesel. A continuation project is now being launched with the aim of further developing manufacturing processes where fractions of the pyrolysis oil are converted to base oil products such as lubricating oils and process oils.

“We hope and believe that this project will contribute to a sustainable tire recovery that utilizes the tires’ valuable components while reducing fossil fuel consumption,” said Linda Sandström.

The company reports that the objective of the development work together with RISE and Nynas is for pyrolysis oil to be priced on the basis of its value to the petrochemical industry as a fuel, as well as from the sustainability perspective. The oil Enviro recovers contains large proportions of bio-based raw material from the natural rubber used in tire manufacturing.

“We’re extracting about 500 kilograms of pyrolysis oil from 1 ton of tires by means of Enviro’s patented technology. With a plant that processes 30,000 ton of tires annually, that’s approximately 14,000 tons of oil per year available for the market. The financial potential is therefore substantial,” says Thomas Sörensson, Enviro CEO.

Article by Enviro.