Executive Summary
Tire Hog
Originating Mobile Depolymerization
Executive Summary
Overview
Microwave Renewable Technologies, LLC (“MRT”) is designing the first mobile tire recycling machine that will be available to industries around the world. The “Tire Hog” uses advanced microwave technology to efficiently and indirectly depolymerize the tire material, reducing the tire into three valuable components: Carbon black, oil and natural gas.
Automotive tire waste poses a unique and global problem. Waste tires are flammable, non-biodegradable, and leach toxins into the ground until burned, in which case they release hazardous fumes. Waste tires present challenges for recycling and disposal as they are thick, heavy, strong, and made of several materials which are difficult to separate.
Each year around 300 million End-of-Life Tires (“ELTs”) are produced in the United States.[1] In 2008, around one billion ELTs were produced globally.[2] This new waste joins that which already exists in landfills across the globe. Thousands of tire shredders have been deployed worldwide in order to reduce and reuse this waste as tire chips, tire shreds, and crumb rubber for disposal or recycling, and biofuel production. However, these machines are large, cumbersome, and inefficient, even when combined with traditional pyrolysis technologies.
This new approach addresses the many processing difficulties encountered with traditional pyrolysis. Low efficiency, fouled heat transfer surfaces and low carbon quality has plagued pyrolysis technology for years. The microwave-based technology has an 80%+ energy conversion rate through direct heating of the material eliminating heat transfer issues and obtaining a carbon product that has a low Volatile Organic Compound (“VOC”) content making it suitable for re-use applications.
Products and Services
By employing microwave technology, the Tire Hog will efficiently and effectively depolymerize these shredded tires and reduce them into their most useful components, carbon black, oil and gas. More specifically, the Tire Hog will be able to process approximately 1,200 twenty-pound tires per day, turning each into approximately 10 pounds of carbon black, 5.3 pounds of oil and 4.7 pounds of natural gas. Furthermore, the Tire Hog’s microwave based technology will have an 80+% energy conversion rate.
Moreover, the Tire Hog has a small, easy-to-transport design which can be transported from site-to-site on a standard tractor trailer. The machine is completely self-contained and powered by the by-products produced from the reduction of the tire material.
Customer Segments
Worldwide, most countries control, manage or regulate the disposal of ELT’s. In hundreds of cases, these country’s governments are tasked with creating dumps where ELT’s are aggregated. The following is a condensed list of potential customer segments that will be directly approached by MRT with the Tire Hog solution: Governments of most UN-recognized countries (193), regional (state/territory/municipal) governments, waste management companies and tire shredder manufacturers.
Marketing and Sales Channels
MRT has identified the world’s largest shredder manufacturers and are the primary channel by which the Tire Hog will be brought to market. These manufacturers have a deep understanding of the tire recycling industry, and knowledge of and/or relationships with the key targets for the Tire Hog. Of these, Genan stands out as it is the largest tire recycler in the world.[3]
Capitalizing on this distribution channel will dramatically accelerate the Tire Hog’s path to market.
Competition and Competitive Analysis
As mentioned above, shredded and ground ELTs allows for disposal or recycling. Although shredded ELT’s have been used as biofuels, environmental concerns have limited widespread adoption. Moreover, the ways shredded ELTs have previously been reused are either (1) not their most economically desirable form, and/or (2) the process used to obtain their most valuable components is itself wasteful and inefficient robbing the end product of both quantity and quality.
One Tire Hog, on the other hand, will produce high quality end products at a rapid rate. Assuming 240 workdays per year, and operation at full capacity, the tire hog is likely to produce 1,440 tons of carbon, 763.2 tons of oil, and 676.8 tons of natural gas per year. That translates to an estimated value of $1.8 million in carbon black,[4] $258,470.40 in crude oil,[5] and $102,495 in natural gas,[6] for a total yearly revenue of over $2.15 million USD.
Management and Organization
MRT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lubrication Specialties, Inc. (LSI) Chris Gabrelcik, CEO of LSI and Kevin Adams, its VP of Research and Development, head up the MRT team. During the company’s initial development stages, LSI resources will be utilized for marketing and management functions.
Tire Hog Build Costs
Total Equipment Costs $688,250
Electrical Engineering Consulting $50,000
Mechanical Engineering Consulting $50,000
Labor $100,000
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Total $888,250
Appendices
Schematic
Prototype Footprint
Component List
[1] Miller, Chaz. “Scrap Tires.” Waste360. May 03, 2011. Accessed July 05, 2018. http://www.waste360.com/Recycling_And_Processing/scrap-tires-201003.
[2] End of Life Tire Summary. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Managing End of Life Tires. November 2008. Accessed July 5, 2018. https://www.tracanada.ca/files/ELT%20Summary,%202008.pdf
[3] Genan has four large recycling plants in Europe in addition to its plant in Houston, Texas, which is the largest tire recycling plant in the world.
[4] Based on a value of $1,250/ton of carbon black.
[5] Based on a value of $50.80/barrel of crude oil.
[6] Based on a value of $.385/CcF.