Fornnax's crumb rubber recycling line delivers 99.9% purity from OTR tires

Fornnax Technology has set new standards in recycling Off-The-Road (OTR) tires on an industrial scale to meet the high level of shredding, granulating, and separating required to offer a clear solution to the growing issues with OTR tires. The new Crumb Rubber Production Line maximizes the purity of output products while maintaining operational efficiency. 

Recycling OTR tires maintains a massive challenge 

The recycling of OTR tires presents an enormous challenge due to the size, complexity, and materials embedded within them. Unlike passenger car or truck tires, OTR tires are designed for rugged applications such as construction, mining, agriculture, and more, making them incredibly durable and difficult to recycle. 

The tire Recycling Market size was USD 6 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 8.21 Billion by 2032 and grow at a CAGR of 3.55 percent over the forecast period of 2024-2032 with only 50 percent being recycled. The remaining volume often ends up in landfills, incinerators, or illegally dumped, posing severe environmental hazards.

However, the OTR tire recycling business presents a lucrative opportunity because it has one of the highest gate fees and exorbitant demand for recycled rubber products, such as crumb rubber, rubber mulch, tire-derived fuel (TDF), and pyrolysis. 

Therefore, size reduction is one of the crucial aspects that involves the use of advanced technologies and machinery, such as shredders and granulators, to turn OTR tires into valuable recyclable materials.

Fornnax Crumb Rubber tire recycling plant stages

Fornnax's crumb rubber recycling process operates through three distinct stages, ensuring a systematic and efficient conversion of OTR tire waste into high-quality crumb rubber and granules. 

Stage 1: Primary shredding - The process begins with the Fornnax SR-Series primary shredder, a high-torque, low-speed unit that efficiently reduces whole tires into strips approximately 50mm wide and 300mm long. The infeed conveyor system ensures a consistent feed rate, while the integrated screening mechanism recirculates oversized strips (>150mm) for reprocessing, achieving uniform shred sizes.

Stage 2: Secondary shredding - The Fornnax R-Series secondary shredder processes the primary shred into 20-30 mm rubber mulch. This heavy-duty, medium-speed equipment features an advanced screening system and over-band magnet, effectively liberating ferrous metals from the bead and tread areas. The resulting rubber mulch, with up to 98 percent steel-free content, is ideal for tire Derived Fuel (TDF) applications or further granulation.

Stage 3A: Primary granulation - In this stage, the Fornnax TR-Series granulator receives steel-free rubber chips via a conveyor feed system. Designed for high-efficiency downsizing, this unit liberates 50 percent of the textile content, which is then separated using Classifier-1. The granulated material is conveyed pneumatically for further reduction or directed to the Auto Bag Filling System for packaging.

Stage 3B: Final granulation - The final granulation stage involves the Fornnax TR-Series granulator, which processes the primary granulated material into rubber granules sized 0.8-4 mm. This high-speed unit, equipped with a sophisticated screening system and secondary magnetic separation, ensures the removal of residual steel (1-2 percent) and textile, delivering rubber granules with up to 99.9 percent purity.

Versatility in input and output

The Fornnax tire Recycling System is designed to process a wide range of input materials, including all types of waste tires, regardless of size. The Primary Shredder Technology, developed as part of the Crumb Rubber Production Line and can handle various sizes of OTR scrap tires without any specific requirements or limitations.

Several valuable products can be produced through Fornnax's size reduction technology: 

• Tire shreds (approximately 50-300 mm) are produced from the SR-Series Primary Shredders without screening and can be used as tire-derived aggregate (TDA) in various civil engineering applications.
• Tire shreds (50-150 mm) are produced from the SR-Series Dual Shaft Shredders with a disc classifier screen and can be used as raw materials for secondary processors, such as rubber chips or rubber granule manufacturers.
• Tire shreds (50-80 mm) are produced from the SR-Series Dual Shaft Shredders with a trammel screen and can be used as tire tire-derived fuel (TDF) in various industries, including cement kilns, paper and pulp mill boilers, and power plants.
• Steel-free chips and rubber mulch (approximately 12-30 mm) are produced from the R-Series Secondary Shredders with an over-band magnet and can be used in landscaping, playgrounds, civil engineering applications, high-value TDF, and pyrolysis. 
• High-quality rubber granules (approximately 0.8-4 mm) are produced from the robust Granulator with a fibre separation system and can be used in various applications, including sports surfaces, road construction, reclaimed rubber sheets, rubber mats, automotive parts, and more.