|
BioWave™ Rubber
Treatment Method
The BioWave process treats crumb rubber with a two-stage method combining
microbial oxidation and microwave energy.
The resulting treated crumb rubber can be mixed with new rubber to create tires
containing 20 percent or more recycled
rubber.
Market Assessment
Over the years, more than 800 million scrap tires have accumulated in stockpiles
in the U.S. A tire’s physical structure, durability, and heat-retaining
characteristics make these stockpiles a potential threat to human health
and the environment.
Under recently passed
legislation in Europe, landfill disposal of used tires is prohibited
beginning in 2006. Also, the European Community has issued a directive requiring car makers to achieve close
to 100 percent recycling of car components, including tires.
If tires containing
BioWave treated crumb rubber can compete in cost and performance with
new tires, the process should have a huge global market.
Patent Status
U.S. Patent No. 6,407,144 has
been issued on this invention.
Stage of Development
BioWave treated crumb rubber was incorporated into a tire tread compound and
the compound was tested for a number of performance parameters.
Contact
Dale Haas, Licensing Associate
Technology Transfer
(803) 725-4185
dale.haas@srnl.doe.gov
|
