UNTHA The Ultimate Guide to Tyre Shredding User Guide
- June 9, 2024
- UNTHA
Table of Contents
The Ultimate Guide to Tyre Shredding
User Guide
The Ultimate Guide to Tyre Shredding
The safest, most efficient and profitable way to manufacture TDF
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Introduction
A staggering 1.5 billion tyres reportedly reach their end of life, globally,
every year – a statistic that nobody wants to read in a world striving for
zero waste. However, the figures become bleaker still when considering that a
worrying 60% of these tyres are said to be landfilled, stockpiled, illegally
dumped or ‘lost’ from the resource chain.
In many respects this is due to the bulky nature of tyres, not to mention the
resource intensive methodologies typically associated with processing them. It
is difficult to store, handle and transform them into something new –
certainly when all eyes are on an organisation’s bottom line – which means
they so frequently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
But complex as tyres may be, their unscrupulous handling cannot be excused.
The environmental impact of non-compliant processing is vast, especially when
stockpile fires break out unexpectedly or are deliberately started to solve
the mounting waste issue.
However, in the absence of engineering advancement in this specific area of
waste handling, what are the options? Waste operators need to make money if
their operations are to remain commercially sustainable, and in the eyes of
many – even those who want to support the drive to achieve a circular economy
– endof-life tyres are simply a waste headache.
However, fast forward to 2021 and they could just become an industry hero.
This guide is designed to be a straight-talking resource that unlocks the true
potential of tyre shredding, particularly when it comes to the safe, efficient
and profitable production of Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF).
For established tyre recyclers, we want to show what is now possible. For
wider waste operators, scrap yards and alternative fuel producers, tyres
deserve greater attention.
There is a significant amount of resource potential to be extracted from this
albeit challenging material stream. This guide will uncover how…
Introducing Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF)
Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF) is one of the most mature fuels in the Energy from
Waste (EfW) market.
When EfW was in its relative infancy, scrap tyres were a ‘go to’ input
material for alternative fuel lines, not least due to their typically high
calorific value. With the calorific value typically between 6450kCal/ kg –
8000kCal/kg, only 0.76 – 0.95 tonnes of tyres are required to substitute 1
tonne of coal.
Tyres have also long been in abundant supply, so TDF availability has rarely
been an issue for cement kilns or co-processing plants understandably seeking
much-needed resource security.
However, as the market developed in EfW-ready nations across Europe and the
United States, for example, operators began to acknowledge the varied material
streams that could be transformed into an energy-rich fuel. The high wear and
cost intensive nature of tyre processing therefore began to lose its appeal in
favour of fuels such as SRF, especially because a lack of engineering
advancements in this specific area meant the financial viability of TDF
remained questionable. And profit is not a dirty word, after all, so operators
should not be afraid of striving to ensure their EfW facilities are
commercially sustainable.
In short, the controllable feedstock quality of TDF means this fuel is an
attractive option in the cement industry. But the cost of producing it has
remained the barrier – not its acceptability for energy recovery.
UNTHA has not discovered a new resource panacea. TDF has long existed. But
safe, efficient and profitable means of producing TDF, have not.
The question is therefore not what to do with this rubber product, but how to
process it.
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“Whatever is going on in the external landscape, shredding innovation
continues at pace at UNTHA.
This means everything from standard car/passenger tyres, through to more
rugged truck and off the road (OTR) tyres, can now be efficiently processed
for a variety of recycling and energy recovery applications, with UNTHA’s tyre
shredders.”
Marcus Brew, managing director, UNTHA UK
The changing landscape
The global Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to newfound difficulties across
the environmental sector overall, with valuable recyclables now in short
supply. Consequently, this changing commodity landscape – certainly when it
comes to material availability – means that all infeed wastes are being re-
evaluated for their resource potential, including tyres.
Furthermore, research and development has been ongoing in some waste
technology firms which means the days of expensive contra-shear, ‘scissor-
action’ tyre shredders are gone. It is now possible to feed tyres through
single shaft shredding technology, to replicate the quality of a contra-shear
process, but with lower operating costs, higher tonnages and far easier
maintenance. In fact, many waste handlers have achieved a payback period as
short as 18 months.
This methodology requires less upstream processing effort and is far kinder to
downstream equipment too, without any detrimental impact on the resulting
product.
Best practice TDF production
As is usually the case – certainly in the world of energy recovery – there is
no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to TDF production. Cement
manufacturers often have their own fuel specifications for example, which
means there may be nuances – however minor – from one tyre processing plant to
the next.
A 50mm (2″) clean cut TDF chip with minimal cross hairs is a common burn-
efficient fuel for a kiln, for instance. However, requirements may differ
between operators.
Organisations with a strong ‘green’ agenda will also be keen to maximise the
environmental efficacy of their facility – not just its commercial viability.
It is therefore important to also consider the other valuable recylates that
may otherwise remain ‘locked’ within tyres, unless the products are shredded
and the composite materials liberated for segregation. In other words, TDF is
not the only possible output.
In fact, devise a carefully designed tyre processing line and it is possible
to extract steel for resale and transform rubber into a homogenous product
that can be used for road base, tip cover, landscaping and playground safety
surfaces. The residual material – arguably containing some sulphur to boost
the calorific value – is what can then be utilised in energy recovery
processes such as TDF manufacturing, or even thermal desorption to produce
fuel oils and clean gas for electricity generation.
Modular processing lines
The first key piece of advice when designing a new tyre shredding line, is
that it should be flexible enough to accommodate ongoing adjustments in terms
of infeed materials and output fraction.
Tyres vary in weight, design and construction – depending on their intended
use – so the technology should ideally be configurable to handle the complex
compositions of standard car and passenger tyres, through to more rugged truck
and agricultural products, to protect the investment.
Modern TDF lines are typically modular in their construct, to
allow operators to make the facility as simple or as sophisticated as
necessary. In a comprehensive turnkey system, for example, a front-end loader
can feed an in-floor conveyor that goes straight into a primary tyre shredder.
In the case of UNTHA, this would be an XR3000C with two 132kW motors, two
knife rows and a slow speed yet high torque gearbox. This could comfortably
take the product down to a homogenous, contaminant-free 50mm particle, in a
single pass.
If a more refined shred is needed, a horizontal
incline conveyor can pass the pre-shredded material through to a secondary
machine such as the new UNTHA XR3000XC, to achieve a more precise <20mm
fraction.
A discharge conveyor with cross belt magnet and neodymium magnet will remove
the fibres and feathers, and a horizontal or zigzag screen will separate the
heavy and light metals to complete the defibration process. It is possible to
ensure the resulting rubber is so clean that it could be used in pyrolysis,
but as stressed above, much depends on what the line needs to produce. It is
foolish to over-invest. So, if a 50mm chip is the desired specification, only
the pre-shredder is required.
“With the world’s raw materials rapidly depleting – and
businesses and consumers alike demanding more environmentally responsible
solutions – this is a fantastic example of clever engineering and innovative
thinking coming together to change the face of the industry.”
Gary Moore, sales director, UNTHA UK
Viewing this guide online?
Click to play our tyre shredding video or visit
youtube.com/watch?v=OMIb6O0O62E
Do not debead
The inherently dangerous debeading process can also now be avoided.
A debeaded tyre has long been considered easier to shred, which explains why
many TDF lines have traditionally incorporated a ‘hook’ which grabs the bead
from the tyre to rip it out with brute force.
However, while this technique protects the machine from wear and possible
damage, it adds to the plant’s labour intensiveness and level of risk that the
operator is exposed to.
Small, low power, dual shaft shredders would still struggle to handle a tyre’s
bead, but larger, high torque, single shaft machines are now purposefully
engineered to withstand the pressures of this tough, bulky waste stream. A
slow running speed will further reduce likely wear and ensure long service
intervals, which maintains plant uptime and safeguards throughput levels. A
capacity of 8-10 tonnes per hour should be comfortably achievable, with
operator safety always assured.
Maintenance costs can now also remain low. A cutter replacement for a typical
high wear tyre shredder could represent a quarterly investment of 67 000 € –
79 000 € plus labour costs, which – when added to the capital investment
required at the outset – explains the perceived unaffordability of tyre
shredding.
However, the low wear nature of modern tyre shredding, as outlined here, means
the process should be able to run for as little as 2 € per tonne when
processing passenger car tyres.
Learn more about the UNTHA XR
UNTHA has launched a new tyre shredding innovation designed to produce a high-
quality Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF) with a level of cost-effectiveness never
before associated with this application.
The single shaft UNTHA XR3000C-HT (high torque) shredder has been purposefully
engineered to tackle notoriously tricky, high wear applications, such as
tyres, with ease. Operating at far slower speeds than its contra-shear
counterparts – without any detriment to throughputs – the goal is to prove
that materials such as tyres are no longer uneconomical to shred.
Available as a static or mobile machine, the UNTHA tyre shredder achieves
variable product sizing – from a rough shred 100mm chip through to a refined
50mm TDF – within a single efficient pass and with no debeading required. The
motors are driven by electricity, rather than diesel, for an energy efficient
operation that compounds the cost-effectiveness of the machine – not least in
light of the much-debated fuel duty.
It contains a robust and indexable cutter system with low cost wear parts for
affordable shredding long into the future. Cutters can be exchanged quickly,
easily and safely – via an ergonomic service door.
And due to its modular construct, the XR can also be integrated into a
sophisticated turnkey solution able to shred down to a homogenous 15mm
fraction for pyrolysis, depending on end user specifications.
Machine specification at-a-glance
- New high torque innovation
- Purposefully engineered for this high wear application
- Variable product sizing
- Electric drive (circumnavigates costly fuel duty & fire risk)
- Indexable, quick-change cutter system
- Low cost wear parts for ongoing affordability
- Throughputs of up to 15 tonnes per hour
- Variable feed (grab, conveyor etc)
- Static or mobile machine available
- Payback period as little as 18 months
Viewing this guide online?
Viewing this guide online?
Click to download the UNTHA XR brochure or visit https://www.untha.com/en
/news-media/brochures
Contact us
To arrange a trial of the UNTHA XR shredder, or to discuss the content of
this guide in further detail, please don’t hesitate to contact:
UNTHA shredding technology GmbH
Kellau 141
5431 Kuchl | Österreich
Tel.: +43 6244 7016 0
Fax: +43 6244 7016 1
info@untha.com
www.untha.com| UNTHA UK Ltd.
Excel House, Becklands Close
Boroughbridge
YO51 9NR | United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 330 056 4455
sales@untha.co.uk
www.untha.co.uk| UNTHA Deutschland GmbH
Am Hammersteig 5a
97753 Karlstadt | Deutschland
Tel.: +49 9353 906869-0
Fax: +49 9353 906869-35
info@untha.de
www.untha.de
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UNTHA America, Inc.
1 Lafayette Road, Building 4
Hampton, NH 03842 | USA
Tel.: +1 603 601 2304
Fax: +1 603 601 7573
info@untha-america.com
www.untha-america.com| UNTHA Polska Sp. z
o.o.
Olecka 23/221
04-980 Warszawa | Polska
Tel.: +48 12 6421896
Fax.: +48 12 6421896
info@untha.pl
www.untha.pl| UNTHA Ibérica S.A.
Polígono de Sigüeiro – Parcela 58, Sigüeiro
– Oroso / A Coruña | España
Tel.: +34 981 69 10 54
Fax: +34 981 69 08 78
info@untha-iberica.com
www.untha.es
References
- America Index- Your adventure begins here
- iberica.com
- Industrial shredder manufacturer | UNTHA shredding technology
- The UK's Leading Provider Of Industrial Waste Shredders | UNTHA
- Welcome to the world of reliable shredding technology | UNTHA shredding technology
- Welcome to the world of reliable shredding technology | UNTHA shredding technology
- Bienvenido al mundo de la máquinas trituradoras mas fiables | UNTHA shredding technology
- Witamy w świecie niezawodnej techniki rozdrabniania! | UNTHA shredding technology
- Welcome to the world of reliable shredding technology | UNTHA shredding technology
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