MINING TYRES governments to set timelines for the introduction of EM tyre recycling. South America is setting the trend. Chile, Peru and Colombia are all currently implementing legislation that will start coming into effect by 2019. Other governments are following.”
The currently preferred end-stage treatment process for large EM tyres is pyrolysis( which requires pre-sectioning of whole tyres into relatively small pieces). A recent development being applied to EM tyre recycling is‘ destructive distillation’ technology. Australia’ s Tytec has formed a joint venture with Green Distillation Technologies( GDT), another Australian company, which developed and patented the process. This system will treat whole tyres including EM without any need to debead / section / shear and provides the same output components as pyrolysis – gas that condenses to fuel-oil, carbon and steel – but which is claimed to be of higher quality, providing better calorific value and / or minimal requirement for further processing. Following a recent meeting in Toowoomba with Queensland Government officials plans for construction of the first GDT plant to recycle old tyres into oil, carbon and steel are on track for commissioning of the first module next April 2019. The plant is expected to cost A $ 10 million to become fully operational and will be built at the Wellcamp Business Park.
Cutler argues that the revenue generated by recycled product sales is still insufficient to make EM tyre recycling commercially viable without the recycler imposing of a collection fee, typically in the order of $ 300 per 57 in tyre. Most mining companies are resigned to the likely introduction of EM tyre recycling legislation within the next decade, and the additional costs that will be associated with it.
Kal Tire is also leading the way in recycling developments for mining tyres with a new plant in Chile close to completion, which will be the first large scale plant operational in the world for mining tyre recycling. Dan Allan states:“ Tyre recycling and responsible tyre disposal remains an issue in many countries for many customers seeking a reliable, sustainable solution. The sheer size and weight of many of these large mining tyres makes‘ traditional’ recycling a challenge. Our plant in Chile remains on schedule, and we have felt a great deal of support from the government, from the customers, and from the tyre manufacturers as we pioneer our Thermal Conversion System in Chile. Our equipment – the first of its kind – is in final testing phases now, and we expect it to be ready for installation in Chile near the end of the year. As with any new equipment, design, or process, there are always unexpected challenges to deal with. However, we remain impressed with the manufacturing and engineering we have seen from our partner. We are seeing an increase in interest from several countries at the moment. The challenge will be matching the solution to the individual demands of each country. Each solution will for sure need to be tailored to the individual circumstances. There will be no‘ one size fits all’ solution.”
Looking at tyre metrics alternatives
Koen Vandermeersch, Manager of tyre consultancy 102psi has addressed the issue of metrics in some detail and also argues that the industry needs to rely less on TKPH for all of its data and metrics. Today, most of the mining world in the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific continue to count and record the life of a tyre on the basis of hours,“ originating from the idea that all vehicle related work is somehow related to the running of its engine. And, indeed, using the hour metric to monitor your engine is nothing more than the obvious. Less can be said about tyre life monitoring expressed in hours. In one hour a truck could be running at 20 km / h average cycle speed or, as part of the same operation, queuing up in one of the loading areas, running the engine but hardly gaining ground. When you count the distance run during that same hour in both situations, you would tend to agree that one hour doesn’ t necessarily correspond to one hour. Only one region in the world has been consistently using another metric to record and monitor tyre life. Since the early days, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, ie the former Soviet Union, have been referring to tyre mileage when it comes to tyre life performance. In the past, the quality of the actual data may have been questionable as, often due to faulty odometers, these mileages were the result of a theoretical calculation based on manual cycle counts and a single haul distance measurement. Nevertheless, the principle of measuring tyre life in distance rather than in hours has been in place in that region for many decades.”
He adds:“ Luckily, these days, we can count on better and more reliable tyre performance tracking and analysis with the aid of professional tyre management software. As it happens, most of these applications allow for registering tyre mileage. Leaving you with the ability to combine both performance metrics and rendering your tyre life evaluation more valuable. Once you have been able to upgrade your metric by including mileage, another, even more valuable tyre life evaluation, is within closer reach than you may think. As IT technology steadily progresses into becoming an absolute requirement for maximising efficiency, it provides us with the opportunity to access the core of tyre life performance evaluation. Operational fleet and site management systems sense and track each
movement of every machine 24 / 7. On board data logging devices record each individual payload of each vehicle and what happens to it. Crossing payload information from an on-board data system with the logs of a tyre management system eventually tells us not only the time and distance a tyre has run during the course of its life but also the load it carried over that time.” He compares as an example the value of: n Tyre A ran 45,000 km( 28,000 miles) in 3,000 hours carrying 60 t for every 10 km( 6 miles) cycle; n Tyre B ran 40,000 km( 25,000 miles) in 3,500 hours carrying 60 t for every 6 km( 4 miles) cycle; n Tyre C ran 35,000 km( 22,000 miles) in 4,000 hours carrying 60 t for every 8 km( 5 miles) cycle.“ Note that we should not take the truck weight / payload into account but rather the individual tyre load. When comparing the tyre value on the basis of time( hours), you will find that tyre C is the most competitive with 4,000 hours on the clock. Using distance( kilometres or miles), you will find that tyre A is the most competitive with 45,000 km( 28,000 miles) on the clock. Using load x distance / time, you will find that tyre B is the most competitive with 4,571,429 tonnes-kilometres per hour. Actually, expressed in LxD / T, you will find that tyre B outperforms the best hour performance-tyre, tyre C, by nearly 100 %. This demonstrates that a comprehensive tyre life performance evaluation can make a difference and affect your tyre policy and budget positively.”
Vandermeersch adds:“ Better understanding the customers’ applications through improved sensing of working conditions will feed the R & D departments of tyre manufacturers. The first steps have been taken with the introduction of Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems( TPMS) but now that a tyre can be‘ connected’, we can expect more and better to come. For now, if your first step towards better valuing your tyre future is the mileage metric, then time has come to take that step and update your tyre performance metrics.”
BKT building Earthmax range
The mining sector is a great challenge for tyres that are put to the toughest tests so mining operators want products that are durable, reliable and resistant at the same time – and able to face and master any adversity when things are getting tough.
BKT says it is always ready to search for new solutions in order to provide a product that is customised to any specific need.“ Among the numerous cutting-edge products of the Earthmax family, it is the big sizes that are obviously striking since they are able to cope with their job
18 International Mining | JULY 2018