subject: How Reclamation Of Rubber Is Done To Lessen The Deterioration Of Natural Resources? [print this page] Recycling of rubber is the most energy efficient process of decomposing the used rubber tires. The demand of reclaimed rubber is increasing day by day because it is much less expensive as compared to natural or synthetic rubber. The consumption ratio of natural rubber in India is quite high as compared to other countries and the future of reclaim rubber India would be at peak in the next few years. Reclaimed rubber is prepared in fluid form and it is dark brown in color with no characteristic smell. There is no danger of explosion because it is not explosive.
Recycling of rubber can be done in two ways i.e. ambient processing and cryogenic processing. Ambient processing is the best technique for reclamation of rubber because it is less expensive and must cost effective. In this process, the rubber tires are cut with cutters into smaller pieces and are further reduced to small particles with the help of cracker mill. The particles from the cracker mill are then shifted to the grinder mill which further crushes them into minute particles. The sharp rotating blades of grinder mill trim the rubber into small pieces. After that the minute rubber particles are cycled several times so that it can be reduced to desired size and the rubber which comes out of grinder mills after processing is known as crumb rubber. The crumbed rubber is further autoclaved in rotary and here it is mixed with reclaiming agents and oils. It is then heated at high temperature and pressure for about 3 hours. The resultant rubber is known as de vulcanized or cured rubber. De vulcanized rubber is then further fed to extruder in which powdered material is converted to solid one and then thin sheets are made up in the refining process which is called as reclaimed rubber.
Cryogenic process is basically a new technique used in the processing of rubber. It is the most economical and feasible technique to process steel belted tires. Freezing of small sized particles is done where liquid nitrogen is sprayed and the rubber is cooled at very low temperatures. The frozen rubber is then sent to the hammer mill where the rubber is smashed into minute particles. Thereafter, textile and steel particles are separated and then it is sent to the reclamation process.
Moreover, recycling of rubber yields many by products like nylon fiber, steel, carbon black and if all these resources are recovered completely then each by product can be sold separately in the market. The reclaiming agents used in the processing of reclamation consume very less power energy and saves intake of fuel. The autoclaving time is also reduced to a great extent. The most important and useful fact about reclaiming rubber is that it is environment friendly and is the best way to discard your old worn out tires. The properties of reclaimed rubber are better as compared to synthetic rubber and it is the excellent way to generate work in developing countries like India.
