Tire-derived fuel now in greater demand
by Brian R.
Hook 
Higher energy
costs are driving demand for tire-derived fuel (TDF) across
parts of the country, especially along the Gulf Coast into
parts of the South Atlantic states.
“In
part of the country, we’ve seen a very significant
spike in the use of scrap tires as fuel,” said Michael
Blumenthal, senior technical director at the Rubber Manufactures
Association. He said the TDF market from Texas through Florida
up to Virginia is basically sold out. “I’ve
talked to a number TDF sales people and they can’t
get enough supply. There is more demand for TDF than availability
of TDF,” he said.
Blumenthal,
who tracks the scrap-tire industry for the Washington D.C.–based
rubber products trade association, said the main factor
behind the demand is the rising cost of more traditional
fuels. Also, the southern part of the country has a strong
pulp-and-paper industry and there are a significant number
of cement kilns in the region.
Pulp-and-paper
mills consume a lot of energy. Mills often supplement wood
fuels, which vary in heat values and moisture content, with
other fuels such as coal or oil to stabilize operations.
The mills use de-wired tires to avoid clogging the feed
system.
The cement
industry also burns scrap tires as fuel for its kilns, which
are basically large furnaces.Some kilns are able to use
whole tires, instead of using tire chips. The removal of
steel from the tires is often unnecessary since kilns need
iron for part of the process. Read
more...
|
