METHOD OF REACTIVATING USED RUBBER PARTICLES OR SHREDDED RUBBER WASTE

摘要

The invention relates to the reactivation of used rubber particles or shredded rubber waste with a view to re-vulcanization. The used rubber and waste can comprise used rubber products such as tyres and used industrial articles made of mixtures of all known types of rubber, as well as waste from the rubber processing industry. The aim of the invention is to reactivate the vulcanization potential of the used rubber principally by mechanical treatment and thereby improve the properties of the vulcanized materials so produced and broaden the range of possible uses of these materials. The pre-shredded raw material undergoes conversion, through further shredding by being repeatedly passed through a narrow slit and subjected simultaneously to pressure and shearing stress in the presence of atmospheric oxygen, to a re-vulcanizable rubber material until the components crucial to vulcanization in the surfaces of the rubber particles are activated. It is particularly advantageous to carry out the processing in a standard roll mill if the slit is successively reduced in incremental steps. Setting a degree of friction between the rolls is also advantageous.