Toward the end of November 2021, the BlackCycle consortium held a workshop at the Michelin technology center in Ladoux, France, with 120 international industry leaders, politicians, academics, H2020 project coordinators and institutional representatives in attendance. The aim of the workshop was to discuss and exchange ideas surrounding the deployment of a circular economy in Europe.
At the event, BlackCycle claimed it had produced the world’s first sustainable carbon blacks (sCB) for use in tire applications, in a carbon black furnace reactor using oils derived from an end-of-life tire pyrolysis process. The production of this sustainable material from end-of-life tires represents the circular process that BlackCycle seeks to deploy.
The use of pyrolysis oil – supplied by German company Pyrum Innovations – as carbon black feedstock was also successfully evaluated in the innovation department at Orion Engineered Carbons. The conclusion was that by replacing a fossil-fuel-based carbon black with carbon black made from oil derived from ELT pyrolysis, the properties of a rubber compound would not change.
BlackCycle claims that even demanding applications will maintain high performance in areas including durability, conductivity and rolling resistance. Furthermore, the processing of the rubber compounds will be unchanged according to the analysis of the green compounds.
The consortium believes sCBs are a drop-in solution that will not require rubber compound formulations or process parameters to be adjusted, such as those used in the mixing, molding and curing processes.
BlackCycle received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
After spending the past six years working as a mechanic for various motorsport and high-end performance car companies, Callum recently joined UKi Media & Events as an assistant editor. In this role he will use his vast practical knowledge and passion for automotive to produce informative news pieces for multiple vehicle-related sectors.
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