Devulcanization of Scrap Rubber and Incorporation of Devulcanized Rubber in Virgin Rubber Compounds

In this research crumb rubber derived from scrap tires and scrap automotive rubber products is devulcanized using a thermo-mechanical devulcanization process with supercritical carbon dioxide in a twin screw extruder. Devulcanized rubber then is incorporated in a virgin tire rubber compound in order to lower the material cost. The main intention of this project is to recycle and re-use the scrap rubbers in new rubber products. For the second stage we are intending to devulcanize the scrap EPDM rubbers from car weather strips and re-use them again for the same application. This research is intended to help both the environment by recycling the scrap rubbers and rubber manufacturer by lowering the cost of raw material.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Alex Penlidis

Student:

Mohammed meysami

Partner:

Tyromer Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of Waterloo