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by
Mark Henricks
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To the average motorist, a tire represents
a way to move down the road. To
a recycler, a tire represents both
promise and puzzle, because automobile,
truck and other tires contain the
elements of a valuable stream of
fuel, recyclable crumb rubber and
steel wire. That’s the promise
part. The puzzle is how to separate
wire from chopped, ground or otherwise
reduced tires economically and
efficiently.
“Tire wire is some of the most difficult
material to process and handle,”
says Mark Bielicki, president of
Bi-Metal Corp. in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
“It’s abrasive. The density is
lousy. And it’s extremely hard
on equipment.” For the last 12
years, Bi-Metal has been selling
two Clean Wire System (CWS) machines
for separating wire from rubber.
The Model 6130 is suitable for
handling the output from one second-stage
processor. The higher-volume Model
9160 can accommodate materials
from two second-stage processors
operating simultaneously.
Bielicki’s wire separators use a
combination of classification,
agitation and magnetic and air
separation, all working together,
for wire that is less than two
percent contamination by weight,
Bielicki says. “We make a machine
which is incredibly rugged, requires
very little maintenance, offers
low power consumption and most
importantly, the CWS produces consistently
clean tire wire, regardless of
how the first and second stage
processors are running,” he says.
Sales of Bi-Metal’s wire removal
equipment have been very good –
better than Bi-Metal’s own business
selling steel reclaimed from tires,
Bielicki says. “The scrap steel
market has come down drastically
in the past few months,” he says.
“It’s simply reflecting world economic
conditions.”
In Grand Prairie, Texas, Granutech-Saturn
Systems sells its MD-80 Grizzly
for wire separation applications.
Salesman Greg Wright says the Grizzly’s
block-style cutters make it stand
out. “What’s good about that is
you basically have four edges,”
he says. “So after your edge dulls
down, you can flip it over and
then rotate it and flip it again.
After those four edges are worn,
you can regrind it two times. So
you end up getting 12 uses out
of it.”
The Grizzly’s cutter design contributes
to a low cost of operation, Wright
says. The 300-horsepower, electrically-driven
machine produces sub-1-inch tire
chunks from which the wire has
been stripped. After the stream
is fed onto a vibratory screen,
overhead magnets remove the wire
from the rubber chunks. The remaining
chunks are suitable for further
processing into ground rubber,
or transformed as-is into landscape
mulch or fuel.
Amandus Kahl of Alpharetta, Georgia,
takes a much different approach
to removing wire from tires with
its Model 60-1250 flat-die pelleting
presses. “On ours, the grinding
takes place on a stationary die
plate which would have 16 or 18,
3/4-inch or 5/8-inch diameter holes
in it,” explains salesman Robert
Trimbee. “We have a roller head
that rotates on this stationary
die plate. That’s how we get our
separation.”
Amandus Kahl’s design minimizes operating
costs, Trimbee says. “The recyclers
in the steel business want clean
steel,” he adds. “And this will
give a clean steel, with good rubber
separation off the steel.” The
400-horsepower machines are designed
to be fed 2- to 3-inch chips from
primary shredders.
Some of Amandus Kahl’s customers
are taking all of their scrap tires
and processing them through the
Model 60-1250 to recover steel.
Business, he says, is good. “I
think its commodity prices and
the general environment in the
country that everybody’s trying
to get more into recycling,” he
says. “And they’re closing landfills
and not allowing tires to go into
landfills.”
In Sarasota, Florida, Columbus McKinnon
Corporation has two models of its
CM Liberator - the 2R and the 4R
– that are sold into tire recycling
applications. “The 2R is two and
four tons per hour input, and the
other is between four and nine
tons per hour, depending on the
screen size,” says national sales
manager Richard Colyar.
Liberators are placed downstream
from primary shredders and employ
a special knife swing designed
primarily for pulling wire out
of tires. “It doesn’t cut,” Colyar
says. “It works similar to a hammer
mill in its knife action. It’s
ripping, tearing and extracting
the steel from the rubber rather
than trying to cut it. If you cut
it, you’re still going to have
pieces of rubber with the steel
inside them. A cutting technology
is not what you want at this stage.”
Depending on the effectiveness of
magnets or other equipment used
on downstream of the machine, Liberators
can produce steel wire with less
than five percent contamination,
Colyar says. “Our steel is a longer
piece, which is more conducive
to baling or densifying,” he adds.
Most of Columbus McKinnon’s sales
are directly into the tire recycling
industry, including sales to Japan,
Spain, Korea and England as well
as the United States. “Business
is good, nice and steady,” Colyar
says. “The regulations that would
affect us are the banning of whole
tires in landfills or the banning
of shred in landfills. Where markets
are being promoted, that’s where
we have the most success.”
Wright also reports sales all over
the world, thanks in part to currency
exchange rates that help United
States exporters. “Our export business
has really gotten good with the
weak dollar,” he says. “That puts
our stuff on sale to anyone outside
the United States. And additionally,
any competitors coming from outside
the United States to sell, their
stuff is more expensive.”
“As far as tire recycling, it’s always
good,” Wright continues. “That’s
a market that seems to be growing.
We get more inquiries from people
wanting to get into tire processing
than anything else.”
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