Australian startup company Green Distillation Technologies (GDT) is turning old rubber tyres into environmentally-friendly fuel, claiming that renewable energy source could even replace diesel.
Using a process that involved the destruction of carbon-based molecules to create renewable energy, GDT produces 3,000 litres of bio-oil from seven tones of tyres. According to GDT COO Trevor Bayley, carbon-based molecules recombine into a vapor which is condensed into a “manufactured” oil, which is close to a diesel fuel number 2 standard. He also added that gas is an alternative product of the process, but oil is easier to collect and store.
Bayley said they started out with car, truck and bus tyres. Their R&D founders chose to put their focus on tyres, although the technology works on any carbon-based product.
GDT researcher Farhad Hossain said he has been working on finding an alternative to diesel fuel since 2013 for his PhD project, and believes that the GDT tyre oil will be the alternative in the future.
Hossaid said they tested the most complex chemical and physical properties of GDT tyre oil at Queensland University of Technology. They analysed that data and found good results for use in diesel engines.
Finally, they tested tyre oil at the so-called Biofuel Engine Research Facility in 10% and 20% diesel blends, performing their experiments with constant speed and load. They found a 30% reduction of nitrogen oxide, and lower particle mass emissions with no power loss when compared to diesel fuel.
This means, he said, that the GDT tyre oil is even better than diesel.
In the future, Hossain plans to further investigate GDT tyre oil,including mining tyre oil using real-world engine operation modes to gather more information on heavy duty engine performance and emissions results. He has also been working to develop cost-efficient alternative fuels as a future diesel.