Assessing the contribution of mobility in the European Union to rubber expansion

Nearly three-quarters of global natural rubber production is used to produce tyres, supporting mobility around the globe. The projected increase in mobility could contribute to further expansion of rubber plantations and impact tropical ecosystems. We quantified the use of natural rubber in tyres in the European Union (EU), the corresponding land footprint, and explored drivers of tyre use using country-specific transport statistics and trade registers of rubber goods. Five percent of the world’s natural rubber is consumed in tyres used in the EU, using up to a quarter of the area under rubber plantations in some producing countries. Car use is responsible for 58% of this consumption, due to car-dependent lifestyles that are associated with economic prosperity and spatial planning paradigms. While the EU’s transport policy focuses on reducing dependence on fossil-fuels, cross-cutting policies are needed to address car-dependency and reduce the EU’s land footprint in tropical landscapes without compromising progress towards decarbonisation.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01579-x.     

我国废旧橡胶综合利用的现状及发展建议

随着我国橡胶资源消耗量的增大和废旧橡胶总量的增多,正确合理地引导扶持废旧橡胶综合利用产业已成为不容忽视的问题。本文介绍了废旧橡胶综合利用的主要途径,分析了我国废旧橡胶的综合利用现状,提出了废旧橡胶综合利用的发展建议。     

Bacteria Associated with Degradation of Wastes from Rubber Processing Industry

An investigation of bacteria found in rubber processing wastes was carried out. Rubber wastes which include effluents from washing tanks and natural rubber waste serum (NRWS) were obtained from Greenpark Rubber Industries Limited, Umutu, Delta State, Nigeria. Five bacterial species were isolated from the wastes. These include Arthrobacter sp., Bacillus sp., Lactobacillus sp., Psuedomonas sp. and Streptococcus sp. Apart from these a number of coliforms were also encountered. Arthrobacter sp. was found to be the dominant species and its potential to utilize rubber hydrocarbon was determined. It was found that the growth of Arthrobacter in both effluent and NRWS was related to pH with the highest growths recorded at pH of 8.5 and 7.5 for effluent and NRWS respectively. It was also found that at controlled pH of 7.5 in NRWS, the growth of Arthrobacter was consistent and was accompanied by a reduction in biological oxygen demand (BOD) which was the the main index for measuring pollution strength of the wastes. It is therefore being recommended that rubber wastes be treated with Arthrobacter under controlled pH to reduce their pollution potentials before disposal. It is however suggested that a combined biological treatment using both Arthrobacter and Mucor as was earlier suggested be used. It is also recommended that chemical flocculants should be used to remove suspended solids in the effluent. A combination of these two cheap methods will go a long way in alleviating the problems of pollution caused by rubber effluents from some tropical rubber processing factories.     

Quality improvement of pyrolysis oil from waste rubber by adding sawdust

This work was aimed at improving the pyrolysis oil quality of waste rubber by adding larch sawdust. Using a 1 kg/h stainless pyrolysis reactor, the contents of sawdust in rubber were gradually increased from 0%, 50%, 100% and 200% (wt%) during the pyrolysis process. Using a thermo-gravimetric (TG) analyzer coupled with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of evolving products (TG–FTIR), the weight loss characteristics of the heat under different mixtures of sawdust/rubber were observed. Using the pyrolysis–gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (Py–GC/MS), the vapors from the pyrolysis processes were collected and the compositions of the vapors were examined. During the pyrolysis process, the recovery of the pyrolysis gas and its composition were measured in-situ at a reaction temperature of 450 °C and a retaining time of 1.2 s. The results indicated that the efficiency of pyrolysis was increased and the residual carbon was reduced as the percentage of sawdust increased. The adding of sawdust significantly improved the pyrolysis oil quality by reducing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrogen and sulfur compounds contents, resulting in an improvement in the combustion efficiency of the pyrolysis oil.     

Influence of ground tire rubber on the transient loading response of a peat biofilter

The effect of using ground tire rubber (GTR) as an adsorptive material in the removal of a 2:1:1 weight mixture of n-butyl acetate, toluene and m-xylene by using a peat biofilter under different intermittent conditions was investigated. The performance of two identical size biofilters, one packed with fibrous peat alone and the other with a 3:1 (vol) fibrous peat and GTR mixture, was examined for a period of four months. Partition coefficients of both materials were measured. Values of 53, 118 and 402 L kg(-1) were determined for n-butyl acetate, toluene and m-xylene in peat, respectively; and values of 40, 609 and 3035 L kg(-1) were measured for the same compounds in GTR. Intermittent load feeding of 16 h per day, 5 days per week working at an EBRT of 60 s and an inlet VOC concentration of 0.3 g C m(-1), resulted in removal efficiencies higher than 90% for both biofilters, indicating that the addition of GTR did not adversely affect the behavior of the bioreactor. Full removal of n-butyl acetate was obtained for both biofilters. GTR improved the removal of the aromatics in the first part of the biofilter, facilitating lower penetration of the toluene and m-xylene into the bed. A 31-day starvation period was applied and intermittent operation subsequently restarted. In both biofilters, high removal efficiencies after a re-acclimation period of two days were achieved. A shock loading test related to 1-h peaks of three- and four-fold increases in its baseline concentration (0.30 g C m(-3)) was applied in both biofilters. For the biofilter packed with the peat and GTR mixture, attenuation greater than 60% was observed in the maximum outlet concentration when compared to the biofilter packed with peat alone.     

硅橡胶低温环境性能研究

目的 研究低温环境对硅橡胶性能的影响。方法 探究硅橡胶6141和6144在-55℃长期低温环境下的压缩永久变形性能变化规律,以及不同低温环境对2种硅橡胶邵氏硬度和拉伸性能的影响,并通过DSC和TMA对材料热效应和弹性恢复行为进行分析。结果 在-55℃的低温环境下,随着时间的延长,硅橡胶的低温压缩永久变形会发生突变。当低温持续时间达到27 d后,硅橡胶6141和6144的低温压缩永久变形分别达到81%和92%,出现失效。对比-25℃和-55℃低温环境下的硬度和拉伸性能发现,随着温度的降低,材料拉断伸长率先增加、后降低,拉伸强度和硬度逐渐增大。当温度降低到-55℃时,由于材料产生结晶,硅橡胶6141和6144的拉伸强度分别增大58%和72%,稳定后的硬度值分别增加25和36。通过DSC和TMA研究发现,硅橡胶会在低温下产生结晶,回弹性降低。在-55℃低温环境下,通过TMA测试得到的6141和6144压缩永久变形分别为60%和62%。结论 在长时间的极端低温环境下,硅橡胶会缓慢发生结晶,使硅橡胶材料在高于其玻璃化转变温度和结晶温度范围内出现性能突变,发生失效。     

热空气作用下FM-2D橡胶材料老化本构模型研究

目的 建立热空气作用下氟醚-2D(FM-2D)橡胶材料的老化本构模型,形成老化作用下橡胶材料力学响应分析方法,为准确评估橡胶密封件使用寿命提供依据。方法 探究热空气作用下FM-2D橡胶材料老化机理,基于连续介质有限变形理论框架,采用热力学耗散势函数法,引入橡胶老化过程的势能函数,据此建立考虑橡胶材料老化的超弹性本构模型,基于橡胶老化试验,完成本构模型参数标定,实现老化作用下橡胶力学响应的预测。结果 建立了热空气作用下橡胶材料的老化本构模型,依据老化试验数据标定模型参数,分析了热空气作用下橡胶材料本构模型的可靠性。结论 建立的热空气作用下橡胶材料的老化本构模型可准确预测橡胶随老化时间演变的力学响应,有效模拟了橡胶材料的老化过程。     

不均匀憎水性对线路绝缘子防污效果的影响

以硅橡胶为主的复合绝缘材料广泛应用于高电压外绝缘领域,因其憎水性和憎水迁移性能有效提高线路绝缘子污闪电压。但是,运行多年后硅橡胶材料会发生局部老化,表面憎水性不均匀下降,这种情况下线路绝缘子的防污效果有着重要的研究意义。针对复合绝缘子沿串憎水性以及RTV涂料绝缘子上、下表面憎水性的不均匀分布特点,应用人工污闪试验和饱和受潮试验表现其防污性能。试验结果表明:复合绝缘子高压端憎水性下降对绝缘子整体防污性能影响较大;而悬垂绝缘子上下表面的饱和受潮时间和污秽流失情况决定了整体受潮状态,其中下表面的憎水性状态对其防污效果至关重要。根据上述试验结果,在运行状态评价中,复合绝缘子高压端以及悬垂绝缘子下表面的憎水性应给予重点关注。     

Adaptive Process Control in Rubber Industry

This paper describes the problems and an adaptive solution for process control in rubber industry. We show that the human and economical benefits of an adaptive solution for the approximation of process parameters are very attractive.

The modeling of the industrial problem is done by the means of artificial neural networks. For the example of the extrusion of a rubber profile in tire production our method shows good resuits even using only a few training samples.     

含钴基金属有机框架硅橡胶泡沫阻燃特性研究*

为提高硅橡胶泡沫（SiFs）的阻燃性能,采用溶剂法制备钴基金属有机框架材料（Co-MOFs）并用X射线光电子能谱仪（XPS）对其结构进行表征。将制备的材料添加到SiFs中,利用极限氧指数（LOI）、UL-94试验和锥形量热仪（CONE）对SiFs的阻燃性能和抑烟性能进行研究。结果表明:添加1%及以上Co-MOFs时,SiFs阻燃等级达到UL-94-V0级;添加3%Co-MOFs时,SiFs的LOI达30.2%,热释放速率峰值（PHRR）和总热释放量（THR）相比原样分别降低了56.92%和66.73%;添加1%Co-MOFs的SiFs的产烟率峰值（PSPR）和产烟量（TSR）比原样分别降低了82%和85%,Co-MOFs提高了SiFs的阻燃和抑烟性能。