Study on the Pyrolysis Kinetics and Mechanisms of the Tread Compounds of Silica-Filled Discarded Car Tires

Abstract

The disposal of used automobile tires is a major waste concern. Simply stacking tires and allowing them to decompose will harbor breeding mosquitoes that spread viruses, whereas burning them will release acidic and toxic gases. Therefore, one viable option is pyrolysis, where elevated temperatures are used to facilitate the decomposition of a material. However, the lack of theoretical support for pyrolysis technology limits the development of the pyrolysis industry when it comes to discarded tires. The purpose of this research is to put forward a brand-new multi-kinetic research method for studying materials with complex components through the discussion of various kinetic research methods. The characteristic of this kinetic research method is that it is a relatively complete theoretical system and can accurately calculate the three kinetic factors considered during the pyrolysis of multicomponent materials. The results show that the multi-kinetic research method can obtain the kinetic equation and reaction mechanism for the pyrolysis of tires with high accuracy. The pyrolysis process of this compound was divided into two stages, Reaction I and II, where the kinetic equation of Reaction I was $f\left(\mathsf{\alpha }\right)=0.2473{\mathsf{\alpha }}^{-3.0473}$ , with an activation energy of 155.26 kJ/mol and a pre-exponential factor of 5.88 × 10⁹/min. Meanwhile, the kinetic equation of Reaction II was $f\left(\mathsf{\alpha }\right)=0.4142\left(1-\mathsf{\alpha }\right){[-\ln \left(1-\mathsf{\alpha }\right)]}^{-1.4143}$ , while its activation energy was 315.40 kJ/mol and its pre-exponential factor was 7.86 × 10¹⁷/min. Furthermore, based on the results of the research analysis, the reaction principles corresponding to Reaction I and Reaction II in the pyrolysis process of this compound were established.