End-of-life tyre recycler Pyrum Innovations has started test operation of its new pelletiser at its plant site in Dillingen, Germany. The pelletiser enables the recovered carbon black (rCB) obtained by means of the pyrolysis process to be bonded into pellets, which increases the transportability as well as facilitates the further processing of the raw material. For example, the pelletiser enables the rCB to be transported as bulk material in trucks, eliminating the need for packaging, and to be resold to various industries, including large tyre manufacturers whose production processes often only allow the acceptance of rCB pellets. This also increases the price that can be obtained for Pyrum for the rCB produced.
After the shredder, the thermolysis reactor and the rCB mill, the pelletiser, the last missing component of the pyrolysis plant, was put into operation.
Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations: “With the pelletiser, which has already been running in test mode since Easter, we can now demonstrate the operation of a Pyrum pyrolysis plant from start to finish in continuous industrial operation. We have also already sent several hundred kilograms of the rCB pellets to laboratories to have the quality certified. According to plan, the pelletiser is scheduled to start commercial operations in the fourth quarter of the current year. However, given the milestones already achieved, we currently assume that an earlier regular operation is possible.”
Carbon black is used as a raw material in numerous industries, e.g. in the tyre industry for the production of new tyres, but also in the plastics or electrical industry.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia, Pyrum Innovations has recorded significantly higher demand for its rCB.
Before the conflict began, around 60% of the carbon black processed in Germany had been imported from Russia. Since then, Pyrum has also received an increasing number of enquiries from industries that the company did not previously have in mind as potential customers, including the paint industry and steel foundries.
With the expected commissioning of the pelleting plant this year and the ongoing expansion of its site in Dillingen, Pyrum expects to be able to increase its production capacity in the coming quarter.