With the sustained economic development and iterative upgrading of rubber product technologies, the global demand for tires has witnessed an explosive growth, with their output accounting for 50% of the total output of rubber products worldwide. However, the tire scrappage rate has reached as high as 55.4%, leading to a sharp annual surge in the stockpile of waste tires. Therefore, how to realize the high-efficiency resource utilization of waste tires, promote the circular regeneration of rubber resources, and achieve the core goals of energy conservation and consumption reduction, ecological improvement and pollution abatement has become a key approach to practicing the concept of sustainable development and constructing a circular economy system.
Against the dual pressures of tightening resource supply and rigid eco-environmental constraints, the traditional carbon black production mode is facing development bottlenecks, while recovering carbon black by virtue of the waste tire pyrolysis process has blazed a new green and low-carbon transformation track for the industry.
The pyrolysis treatment of waste tires requires multiple preprocessing procedures: first, the waste tires are subjected to deep cleaning to remove surface-attached impurities; then, they are processed into granular materials suitable for subsequent treatment through cutting or grinding processes; after that, magnetic separation technology is used to accurately separate and remove metal impurities such as steel wires from the materials. The preprocessed materials are dried and preheated to an appropriate temperature, then fed into the pyrolysis reaction equipment, where the thermal decomposition reaction is completed under a protective atmosphere of inert gases (e.g., steam, nitrogen).
Diverse Application Scenarios of Carbon Black
As a high-performance carbon-based functional material, carbon black plays an indispensable role in numerous fields and boasts extensive application value.
The rubber industry is the core and most extensive application field of carbon black. In the production of rubber tires, carbon black acts as a key reinforcing filler that can significantly enhance the wear resistance, aging resistance and puncture resistance of tires. It effectively extends tire service life, optimizes overall performance, and reduces tire rolling resistance to help improve vehicle fuel economy.
The plastic industry is also an important application arena for carbon black. Adding carbon black to plastic products can targetedly improve their physical properties, such as enhancing thermal stability, UV aging resistance and impact strength, thus expanding the applicable scenarios of plastic products.
The coatings and inks industry also witnesses considerable market demand for carbon black. In coating formulations, carbon black can strengthen the hiding power, weather resistance and chemical corrosion resistance of products, endowing coatings with both durability and decorative properties. In ink production, carbon black is used to improve tinting strength, gloss and printing compatibility, ensuring the stability of printing effects. Today, the application of carbon black has broken through the scope of traditional coatings and inks, and gradually extended to emerging fields such as water-based coatings, UV inks and metal inks, with its market potential being continuously unleashed.
Zenith XZM Ultrafine Mill is a newly developed ultrafine grinding mill engineered by Zenith. Drawing on the company’s decades of expertise in grinding mill manufacturing, incorporating advanced mechanical manufacturing technologies from Sweden, and undergoing years of repeated tests and improvements, it stands as the ideal equipment for the finishing grinding processing of carbon black.
01 High Efficiency & Energy Saving
40% higher grinding efficiency and 70% lower energy consumption than fluidized bed/agitator mills at the same fineness & power.
02 Precise Particle Size Control
Cage classifier + frequency conversion control, d97≤5μm final fineness achievable in one pass.
03 Safe & Reliable Operation
No rolling bearings/screws in grinding chamber, avoiding equipment damage from wear/loosening.
04 Clean & Eco-Friendly
Pulse dust collector + muffler + soundproof room, dust/noise pollution far below national standard.
In the future, Zenith will take technological innovation as its cornerstone, and continuously empower the technological upgrading and sustainable development of the carbon black industry with its intelligent and low-carbon strategies, helping the industry transform towards high-end and green development.
