ELT Handling & Processing
GDT can process any end-of-life tyre and turn it into oil, steel and carbon. We can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ELT to End Products
1 – ELT Tyres
Customers deliver whole ELT tyres to GDT plant for responsible disposal.
2 – Distillation
The Destructive Distillation sequence of loading modules, distillation, and offtake collection is repeated down the plant line.
3 – End Products
Oil – Low carbon fuel. The oil is a stable, high-energy ’semi-crude,’ suitable for further refining.
Steel – The steel is separated from the carbon. Depending on the customer’s needs, it can either go straight into a skip bin or be baled to achieve a standard size and weight.
Carbon – After separation from steel, the rCB carbon is available. It can undergo further processing to create a valued N660 carbon product.
Three End Products
Oil (Low-Carbon Fuel)
Oil is 33% of the distillation process output. The low-carbon fuel produced is a mixed hydrocarbon. It can therefore be refined into various fuel fractions.
Example applications:
- Blended with fossil fuel diesel at the legislated rate of 0.5% without any loss of power.
- A substitute for or blended with diesel for the manufacture of explosives in the mining industry.
- As a raw material in the manufacture of monomers and polymers.
- Used as a heating fuel, direct into some stationary diesel engines
- Put through further refinement into automotive or aviation fuels.
At GDT, we also use this same fuel for our plant distillation process, which cuts down operating costs.
Steel
Steel forms 20% of the distillation output. It emerges from the GDT process as a “‘clean” product that is in high demand in the scrap steel market.
Example applications:
- Used as feedstock in steel blast furnaces
- Returned or resold directly to the tyre manufacturing industry for reuse.
Carbon (rCB)
The most widely used industrial chemical in the world, recovered carbon black (rCB) is much sought after worldwide for various industrial applications. The carbon produced by the GDT distillation process is a high-grade product that can replace those sourced from fossil fuels. It forms 47% of the distillation output.
Example applications:
- The rCB can be readily sold as a blend or as a substitute for N660 grade carbon powder
- rCB has also been proven in some polymer applications
- For use in friction materials
- As feedstock for conversion to graphite and graphene
Example Yields
A typical 10 kg car tyre will yield 4 litres of oil, 4kg of carbon, and 2kg of steel.
A 70kg truck tyre will provide 27 litres of oil, 28 kg of carbon, and 15 kg of steel.
A 4-tonne oversize dump truck tyre will yield 1.6 tonnes of carbon, 0.8 tonne of steel and 1500 litres of oil.
