Scrap Tires | Scrap Tire News | Archived Article

Goodyear has patented a solvent-based devulcanization process it said can reclaim up to 80 percent of the rubber in a used tire while retaining the rubber's chemical composition and molecular weight. Using 2-butanol, a common alcohol-based solvent, under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions activates the devulcanization, according to Ron Dill, Goodyear director or analytical and materials testing. The company has "absolutely no idea" whether the process will prove economically feasible on a large scale, a Goodyear spokeswoman said, and the scale-up process is "still in the invention stage," according to Dill.

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