AU2013100048A4 - A device that provides a process for the reclamation of usable products from waste streams while minimising environmental impact - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract This invention provides a process for the reclamation of usable products from waste streams while minimising environmental impact. The process comprises of a endothermic Pyrolytic Catalytic Cracking of classified toxic waste products, in a controlled manner within a atmospherically sealed vessel. No products or by-products are directly released or discharge to atmosphere resulting in a very environmentally friendly and sustainable process. This present innovative patented relates directly to the recycling of rubber products such as end of life tyres, conveyor belting and scrap rubber resulting in the reclamation of both liquid and gaseous forms of hydrocarbons which may be further refined into diesel and or petrol and electricity. Other products from this process include a high-grade carbon black, a high-grade clean recyclable steel product and a clean high-grade nylon and/or cotton cloth and/or fibreglass fibre product. This process and apparatus economically recovers commercially valuable products from end of life waste streams which usually find their way to landfill and are often classified toxic and damaging to the environment. The whole process which this innovative patent relates to, have no adverse impact to the environment, the whole process has potentially substantial environmental benefit disclosed herein. -nA -' D 00C D -- 1 CD -0 cr. 3 C) a 03~~ -'..CD a)C 00 X0 C D %0 00a3 =3 03 0 CD r D >A an -0 030 CD 0 cr. C D C)U -0 rD a rD - D LI-I (D ( CDD (D (DD 000 (D (A0 rD 0 v_ C-) c o -h D.tn m~C 0 0 -. r-D

Description

EDITORIAL NOTE 2013100048 There are ten pages of the description only Background of the invention and innovation's. Field of the invention It is a well-publicised fact that each year millions of tonnes of end of life rubber products are discarded. This includes end of life tyres from: * on road vehicles ranging from bicycle tyres, motorcycle tyres, car tyres and heavy vehicle tyres e agricultural vehicle tyres e industry tyres such as forklifts tyres and OTR and Haul pack tyres in the mining sector e industry specific tyres such as aircraft tyres, * Other end of life rubber products such as industrial waste, conveyor belting, e consumer market scrap rubber from the manufacture of products such as but not limited to, footwear, furniture, medical waste and many other current domestic and commercial products. There is an estimated 450 tyre manufacturing factories worldwide, manufacturing over 1 billion tyres annually, making the tyre manufacture industry a major consumer of natural rubber products. It is estimated that in 2015 there will be in excess of 1.72 billion tyres sold globally. In 2004, US$80 billion of tyres were sold worldwide and in 2010 this figure was a staggering US$140 billion. The top five tyre manufacturing companies by revenue are Bridgestone, Michelin, Good year, Continental and Pirelli. An end of life tyre carcass is composed of several parts. The tread The tread is the part of the tyre that comes in contact with road surfaces and is commonly the main part worn down, leading to a tyre being discarded. The tread consists of a thick rubber composite compound and is formulated to provide an appropriate level of traction and is designed not to wear away too quickly. The tread pattern imprinted on tyres is characterised by a geometric shape of grooves lugs, voids and sipes. All features on the tread surface of a tyre are designed to allow water to escape from between the tyre and the traction surface to prevent hydroplaning, or in the case of OTR tyres, to promote traction with the surface they are coming in contact with. Immediately under this tread section of tyre is various reinforcing material, sometimes, this material only consists of a cloth or nylon type fabric.Commonly found is a woven steel fabric vulcanised into the rubber. This vulcanisation process is what predominantly creates difficulties in the recycling of end of life tyres. The Bead The bead is vulcanised steel reinforcement designed for tyre support that comes in contact with the rim on the wheel. The bead is typically reinforced with a high-grade high tensile steel wire and a low flexibility rubber. The bead seals tightly against the two rims on the wheel to ensure that in the case of a tubeless tyre that the tyre holds air without leakage. The bead is designed to fit snugly and tight to ensure that the tyre does not rotate circumferentially as the wheel rotates. The side wall The side wall is a part of the tyre that bridges between the bead and the tread. The side wall is proportionally composed largely of rubber but will often have reinforcing fabric or fine steel meshes and fibres vulcanised in its construction which provide tensile strength and flexibility. The main purpose of the sidewall is to contain air pressure and transmit torque applied from the drive axle to the traction circle below the tread. Sidewalls are specifically manufactured to specific detail, government mandated warning labels, and consumer information and sometimes decorative ornamentation. Tyre production starts with bulk raw materials such as natural and synthetic rubbers, carbon black and numerous hydrocarbon-based chemicals. Various types and blends of rubbers are used in the manufacture process of tyres with the most common being styrene-butadiene copolymer. Current trends indicate a substantial annual increase in all forms of waste stream due to the increase in worldwide consumerism. Therefore being able to process and reuse waste streams in an environmentally responsible manner is, not only commercially attractive but also very environmentally attractive. The need therefore exists for not only a commercially viable solution to the ever-increasing waste generation problem, but primarily an environmentally sound and energetically sustainable process and apparatus to be able to address that ever-increasing environmental impact that these waste streams currently pose. The present scope of this patent and innovation relates to, but is not limited to, the recycling of organic waste materials such as hydrocarbon containing products and other elastomeric products specifically discarded tyres and other rubber products to recover useful and reusable products therefrom by a non-oxidative thermal decomposition and depolymerisation of the said rubber. This non-oxidative pyrolytic decomposition of the rubber vulcanate results in a number of commercially saleable products, such as but not limited to, a high grade synthetic crude oil which may be further separated and fractioned into quality products for current and future internal combustion engine fuel sources, either for compression ignition engines and/or spark ignition engines, or as an alternative or an addition to fuel oil for fuel oil fired furnaces or as a plasticising and extending agent just to name a few. The quality controls implemented during the multiple isothermal zone process and the nature of this non-oxidative isothermal decomposition of the rubber feedstock while ensuring the complete destructive distillation process incorporated in this invention results in a very clean and high quality carbonaceous product remaining, resulting in an attractive commercially saleable carbon black equivalent, after all the hydrocarbon products and other possible contaminants such as, steel, nylon, cotton and fibreglass fragments are completely removed from this carbonaceous product prior to discharge from this unique endothermic catalytic pyrolytic device, herein known as the "CAT". The current processes for recycling end of life tyres and rubber products generally falls under one of four categories. One category is the physical fragmentation of the tyres into pieces of varying sizes by some physical means such as the use of shredders and/or the use of hammer mills or granulation, then once the waste rubber is broken up, in most cases the steel wires and steel fragments are removed along with any nylon or fibreglass contamination and then the rubber is re-claimed to produce a recycled rubber product. Often the poor quality of this recycled rubber product due to the blending of synthetic and natural rubber is unsuitable for use as a raw material to produce new rubber for use in such products as tyres. Commonly physically fragmented and processed rubber is used in the formation of products that can tolerate large variances in the rubber's chemical make up in their manufacture in such cases they are often bonded with adhesives or solvents to form the end product, such as but not limited to the manufacture of rubber matting, soft fall surfaces, athletic track surfaces and many other sporting facilities along with child playground equipment surfaces or padding. There are large variances in the chemical composition of natural rubber versus synthetic rubber as well as added difficulties with the vulcanisation between rubber, steel and fabrics in the manufacturing process of commonly used rubber products. All of this processing, blending and vulcanisation leads to a unique and difficult problem to resolve and this may shed a partial answer to the question of why such a valuable commodity as end of life rubber is not recycled and utilised more. This innovative invention addresses the aforementioned problems in the field of environmentally safe rubber recycling. A second category for disposing of end of life rubber products is one of a chemical process where waste rubber is "digested". Following physical fragmentation of the said rubber it is added to a chemical solution of cellulose degrading and destroying chemicals such as sodium hydroxide or zinc chloride or other solvents that leads to destroying the fibre present in the rubber and therefore plasticising the rubber. Drawbacks and problems with the chemical degradation of rubber are numerous but primarily it is of poor economic benefit and potentially environmentally damaging in the treatment and disposal of the chemicals used in the process. A third method of tyre disposal currently used is incineration of tyres in coal fired power stations or cement kilns. This method of disposal is also environmentally damaging. The fourth method used currently is to send rubber products to landfill. There are obvious environmental implications of sending rubber products to landfill. For example a very long half-life and long degradation cycle as well as the possibility of contaminants leaching from the landfill. It has been proven in areas of high rainfall that discarded rubber products in landfill are very buoyant and tend to "float" to the surface which may lead to the compromising of the waste sealing "caps" put in place to prevent landfill sites leaching contaminants to the environment. By utilising this innovative technology it is possible to save many millions of tonnes of waste per year adding to landfill. Further, as this technology becomes commercially available it would also prove economically viable, in a commercial manner, to reclaim and reuse this valuable product from existing landfill sites. The only other method of disposing of end of life tyres is the illegal dumping of these tyres. This poses major and unacceptable environmental risks. End of life rubber products would then be viewed as a commodity rather than a liability and this process will shed a whole new light on the methods of future disposal. This innovative patent illustrates a positive way forward both commercially and primarily on a safe, sustainable and zero impact environmental aspect. Description of related art There are many thousands of patents registered, withdrawn, lapsed, filed, granted and sealed worldwide pertaining to the destruction of waste rubber these patents are quite varied in their approaches to the continuing problem of rubber recycling. According to existing patents and technology, pyrolysis is the preferred method of end of life rubber destruction, both in the form of batch pyrolysis units and continuous operation pyrolysis machines. Many of these patents incorporate the use of chemicals for the purpose of catalysts, others incorporate microwaves and microwave generators as heat sources, while others have unique proprietary design opportunities.

Below are four categories of citations for this patent, Category one, patents directly cited and referenced AU 1995022727 AU 1998069312 AU 1999033771 AU 1999040461 AU 1999058962 AU 20023446781 CA 2305745 F I 2002000993 FR 1999001333 US 1995003604 US 1999000017 US 1999007163 US 20110107668 US 4084521 US 4308103 US 4439209 US 4474524 US 4588477 US 4588477 US 4648328 US 4648328 US 4900401 US 4900401 US 5084141 US 5095040 US 5129995 US 5158983 US 5423950 US 5504267 US 5744668 US 5894012 US 6149881 US 7416641 US 7951289 WO 1995025930 WO 1999018171 WO 1999050374 WO 1999064539 WO 2000015403 WO 2003047778 WO 2003047778 Category two, patents examined DE 3330667 (Al) AU 1989PJ4829 AU 1998PP4160 AU 2002321121 AU 2009100897 AU002230795A AU 1990058007 AU1998PP4162 AU2002330890 AU2009220133 AU 002230795A AU 1990059639 AU 1999015837 AU 2002333962 AU 2009233957 AU 002230795A AU 1990060556 AU 1999021823 AU 20023446781 AU 2009299911 AU 002230795A AU 1991070701 AU 1999032803 AU 2002345686 AU 2009901963 AU 002230795A AU 1991074445 AU 1999033771 AU 2002346781 AU 2009906019 AU 002230795A AU 1991076705 AU 1999033771 AU 2002348643 AU 2010101395 AU 1978PD4702 AU 1991082536 AU 1999035219 AU 2002362827 AU 2010271568 AU 1979048041 AU 1991PK5442 AU 1999040461 AU 2002363186 AU 2010292998 AU 1979050765 AU 1992013922 AU 1999040461 AU 2002365447 AU 2010296083 AU 1979PD8615 AU 1992017459 AU 1999053838 AU 2003201456 AU 2010318097 AU 1980063032 AU 1992021864 AU 1999056666 AU 2003201973 AU 2010332234 AU 1981067161 AU 1992022276 AU 1999058962 AU 2003211647 AU 2010341654 AU 1982084966 AU 1992023106 AU 1999058962 AU 2003215291 AU 2010341655 AU 1982086076 AU 1992026647 AU 1999063219 AU 2003228051 AU 2010902743 AU 1982086530 AU 1992029106 AU 1999063328 AU 2003231544 AU 2010904850 AU 1983016593 AU 1993036050 AU 2000022725 AU 2003238981 AU 2011221434 AU 1983018939 AU 1993048479 AU2000027286 AU2003239935 AU2011232187 AU 1984023556 AU 1993048829 AU2000029515 AU2003240403 AU2011235233 AU 1984025527 AU 1994057935 AU2000030558 AU2003253078 AU2011236662 AU 1984029245 AU 1994077015 AU2000035058 AU2003258638 AU2011253089 AU 1984031598 AU 1994PM7099 AU 2000044207 AU 2003264690 AU 2011253788 AU 1984032205 AU 1994PM9176 AU 2000045852 AU 2003272133 AU 2011269715 AU 1985040680 AU 1995014570 AU 2000046813 AU 2003276555 AU 2011286266 AU 1985040986 AU 1995022727 AU2000056816 AU2003278655 AU2011286351 AU 1985042523 AU 1995022727 AU 2000065643 AU 2003280029 AU 2011901841 AU 1985045598 AU 1995025842 AU 2000074890 AU 2003280430 AU 2011902320 AU 1985050627 AU 1995035097 AU 2001010126 AU 2003296889 AU 2012203531 AU 1986056667 AU 1995036530 AU 2001010585 AU 2003301210 AU 2012902523 AU 1986059575 AU 1995PN4578 AU 2001021007 AU 2003303984 AU 983015627A AU 1986066221 AU 1995PN6372 AU 2001044791 AU 2004305312 CA 2305745 AU 1986066494 AU 1996068614 AU 2001061941 AU 2004322730 EP 0019389 AU 1987073683 AU 1996073185 AU 2001236108 AU 2004324028 EP 00519426 (a 3) AU 1987P13584 AU 1996073777 AU 2001244629 AU 2005211544 EP 0393030 AU 1987P14170 AU 1996PO1392 AU 2001248404 AU 2005242178 EP 0519426 (A2) AU 1987P14171 AU 1996PO3494 AU 2001267582 AU 2005277354 EP 0690265 (Al) AU 1988010319 AU 1997020029 AU 2001274125 AU 2005325582 EP 0690265 (Al) AU 1988017616 AU 1997024854 AU 2001274126 AU 2006212627 EP 0690265 (B1) AU 1988023262 AU 1997029379 AU 2001274255 AU 2006233503 EP 1337593 (A2) AU 1988023986 AU 1997043741 AU 2001281198 AU 2006242798 F 1 2002000993 AU 1988PI7623 AU 1998057202 AU 2001283221 AU 2006243568 FR 1999001333 AU 1988P18908 AU 1998061855 AU 2001285132 AU 2006255456 FR 2623878 (Al) AU 1988P18909 AU 1998065994 AU 2001290208 AU 2006268064 FR 2623878 (B 1) AU 1989030350 AU 1998069312 AU2002210498 AU2007269665 JP 57180530 AU 1989032322 AU 1998069312 AU 2002212262 AU 2007328516 JP 1477326 AU 1989032534 AU 1998076391 AU 2002242579 AU 2007904480 JP 49112360 AU 1989036644 AU 1998078296 AU 2002259006 AU 2008202986 JP 54131279 AU 1989045895 AU 1998079441 AU 2002319103 AU 2008266229 JP 554036473 AU 1989PJ3312 AU 1998083733 AU 2002319507 AU 2008281484 JP 5603 7414 AU 1989PJ3356 AU 1998094778 AU 2002319510 AU 2008285305 JP 57198919 JP 60056710 US 4038100 US 4460452 US 5060584 US 5894012 JP 60056710 US 4052265 US 4474524 US 5070109 US 5894012 JP 62096218 US 4052344 US 4474524 US 5084140 US 5959007 JP 63018086 US 4074979 US 4490213 US 5084141 US 6070630 US 1938116 US4084521 US4495057 US5084141 US6090350 US 1989330 US 4084521 US 4514287 US 5087436 US 6107532 US 1995003604 US 4089773 US 4515659 US 5095040 US 6133491 US 1999000017 US 4098649 US 4560414 US 5095040 US 6149881 US 1999007163 US 4108730 US 4588477 US 5099086 US 6149881 US 2003144380 US 4108760 US 4588477 US 5104490 US 6184427 US2007131591 US4118281 US4588477 US5120767 US6270630 US 2008017496 US 4118282 US 4640681 US 5129995 US 6277168 US 20100087554 US 4123332 US 4642401 US 5129995 US 6657095 US 2010249353 US 4139450 US 4647443 US 5157176 US 6660059 US 20110107668 US 4146460 US 4648328 US 5158983 US 6774271 US 20110107668 US 4150548 US 4648328 US 5158983 US 6833485 US2011048916 US4153514 US4648328 US5208401 US6835861 US 2011174193 US 4166049 US 4666591 US 5208404 US 6866830 US 2511088 US 4175211 US 4686007 US 5229099 US 7416641 US 3282719 US 4203804 US 4686008 US 5230777 US 7416641 US 3582279 US 4211576 US 4687570 US 5233109 US 7459006 US 3617474 US4214110 US4740270 US5250131 US7531703 US 3644193 US 4235676 US 4746406 US 5264640 US 7629497 US 3671613 US 4250145 US 4787321 US 5286374 US 7758729 US 3674433 US 4250158 US 4806232 US 5364995 US 7824523 US 3755152 US 4251500 US 4814003 US 5369215 US 7883605 US 3772242 US 4258011 US 4839029 US 5389691 US 7893307 US 3780676 US 4284616 US 4839151 US 5414169 US 7927465 US 3823223 US 4300915 US 4846962 US 5418256 US 7947248 US 3823224 US 4301137 US 4851601 US 5423950 US 7951271 US 3840456 US 4303494 US 4864012 US 5423950 US 7951289 US 3843457 US 4306506 US 4867755 US 5449438 US 7951289 US 3873474 US 4308103 US 4894140 US 5451297 US 7959890 US 3875077 US 4308103 US 4895083 US 5464503 US 8020499 US 3893913 US 4309195 US 4900401 US 5470384 US 8137508 US 3896059 US 4311520 US 4900401 US 5504267 US 8183423 US 3907582 US 4332932 US 4900401 US 5504267 US 8188325 US 3915581 US 4341619 US 4906290 US 5506274 US 8192586 US 3926582 US 4354922 US 4908104 US 5516952 US 8192587 US 3939057 US 4354922 US 4946582 US 5550312 US 8193403 US 3952087 US 4384150 US 4960440 US 5654357 US 8221695 US 3956414 US4384151 US4982027 US5719215 US8268133 US 3966487 US 4387652 US 4983278 US 5728361 US 8323589 US 3977960 US 4401513 US 4983278 US 5735948 US 8323793 US 3978199 US 4401551 US 4983782 US 5744668 US 866758 US 3996022 US 4415429 US 5017269 US 5744668 W02012140357 US 3997407 US 4439209 US 5024740 US 5780518 WO 0226914 (a 2) US 4002587 US 4439209 US 5037628 US 5824133 WO198800887 US 4029550 US 4441985 US 5041209 US 5852062 WO1995025930 US 4030984 US 4459136 US 5057189 US 5868085 WO1999018171 WO 1999050374 WO 1999064539 WO 2000015403 WO 2003047778 WO 2003047778 W00226914 (a 3) Summary of the innovative invention Herein disclosed is an apparatus and a series of innovative processes for effectively and economically addressing the ever-increasing waste stream of waste rubber products all while having no adverse environmental effect. This invention consists of an atmospherically sealed apparatus for the continuous processing of specifically, but not limited to waste rubber. The design of this vessel may be quite varied due to individual project requirements it is however easily adaptable to suit specific requirements. Description of the preferred embodiments In this patent, unless otherwise stated, words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa, headings and boldings are for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation of this patent unless context requires otherwise. This invention consists of an atmospherically sealed apparatus where specific dimensions are calculated and applied for the individual job requirement. The process incorporates unique phases and sequences of events for the continuous operation of processing high molecular waste products such as, but not limited to, end of life rubber that responds well to thermal decomposition and depolymerization. The main objective of this invention is to provide a reliable, repeatable, dependable and economical continuous stream Pyrolysis vessel with minimal to no environmental impact. This fully atmospherically sealed vessel having an inlet port for the raw material to enter the vessel which incorporates in its design multiple air locks and rotary valves to prevent atmospheric discharge and on the opposite end of the inlet port of the vessel is a discharge port with multiple air locks and rotary valves for the carbonaceous product to exit from. While having multiple product discharge ports along the way for retrieval of the gaseous and/or liquid hydrocarbon product that are required. These product retrieval ports may all have different configurations and designs but are specifically designed and configured for optimal productivity for individual requirements, but generally speaking they all consist of one-way valves preventing back flow and cross contamination of the desired product stream and are isothermally controllable to optimise end product quality and purity. This invention is particularly useful in the processing and depolymerization of waste rubber due to the vast array of adjustable variables. This apparatus is capable of taking extensive variations in size of rubber feedstock but to ensure the economic and consistently reliable quality for specific end product requirements it is conducive to regularly maintain consistent material size for the products in feed, thus ensuring efficiency within the reactor chamber and therefore making the whole process more economically viable while ensuring repeatable consistency in the quality of the end products. The specifically prepared materials are stored with in a sealed material holding hopper directly adjacent and attached to the multiple airlock's and rotary valves house within the inlet feed mechanism The main reactor vessel consists of a "U" shaped vessel, but not limited thereto, fully sealed and insulated, the individual size requirements and dimensions for the said vessel vary substantially due to the required flow rate and individual specifications required to maximise optimum results. The vessel is securely mounted in an adjustable frame in a predominantly horizontal position. The horizontal position has variable pitch depending on the desired dwell and resident time required for the material within the said reactor. Located directly adjacently and below to the inlet orifice within the reactor vessel there is a rotary rotational device with varying pitch and size paddles for the conveying of the said material within the vessel. The revolutionary speed of this rotational conveyancing mechanism is infinitely variable depending on the individual flow ability and individual nature of the said material. With a contrary speed as high as 250 revolutions per minute in both a forward and reverse direction. This rotational conveyancing mechanism transports the feed material into specificity variable isothermal zones within the reactor, depending on the size and nature of the said the material as to the resident time within the individual isothermal zones. The optimal rotation rate also depends on the chemical nature and make up of the individual feed materials since the necessary time for the complete destructive thermal distillation and thermal decomposition vary considerably between different rubber manufacturers products. Materials of lighter density and therefore easier distilled would have a shorter dwell time with an increased rotational rate therefore having a shorter residence time, where materials of a higher density would have an appropriate longer resident time and slower rotation rate, while neither the resident time nor the rotational speed can be viewed individually it is critical they must be viewed in conjunction with each other and as a whole. The vessel itself consists of a "U" shaped tube with a cylindrical base and two parallel walls with flat opposing surfaces a removable top section parallel to the cylindrical base with two end faces, a proximal and distal, forming the upstream and downstream ends of the vessel, the interior cylindrical surface of the vessel forms part of the rotational conveyancing mechanism. Within the reactor vessel itself there are multiple isothermic zones, how many zones are determined on the chemical make-up and nature of the feed material and the desired outcomes for the end product, they may vary from, but not limited to, 2 to 20 individual zones. Feed material is introduced into these individual reaction zones through the inlet port on the upstream side of the reactor vessel, while the gas use and liquid portions of the destructive distillation reaction except the vessel through multiple outlet ports situated along with external axial surface of the vessel, the number of these said outlet ports vary in direct proportion to the size of the said reactor vessel and the desired end products required.

The feed material is introduced through a control mechanism which controls the rate and speed of the desired predetermined outcomes while avoiding any possible atmospheric air introduction to the reactor as all the reactions are performed in a sub aerobic environment. In the embodiment of this patent, the selected feedstock firstly passes through a selection and grading process, once this selection and grading process is completed the feedstock then proceeds to the first of the processing stages which comprises of a de-beading device to remove the steel beads that are vulcanised into the tyres in their manufacturing process. The purpose of these beads is crucial for the safe installation and operation of tyres on steel rims, this steel bead, along with other steel that is vulcanised with rubber in the manufacture of tyres poses a unique problem in the recycling of end of life tyres. The de-beaded tire then passes, via a conveying mechanism within an enclosed canopy, to a device that physically breaks down this solid product into smaller pieces of uniform sized material within a fully enclosed pre-breaker and/or shredder. This pre-breaker and shredder is specifically designed to return a consistent high-quality feedstock of uniform size. The conveyancing mechanism then transports this uniform size feedstock to be further physically processed within a series of hammer mills and/or granulators, from hereon the feedstock is further conveyed to a magnetic separation device and then a cloth and/or fibre separation device before starting its journey through a storage hopper and then through a metering device which accurately measures metered amounts which are individually calculated to comply with the desired throughput of the reactor vessel. Then the material flows into an array of multiple rotary air lock chambers. The feed stock is then further transported into a rotary feed valve which consists of a speed controllable rotary central shaft with a plurality of radial auger arms extending outward which is housed within a cylindrical housing to form multiple individual airtight chambers. These chambers receive metered quantities of feed material from the airlock valves vertically situated above. The feed rate and speed of this material while entering the airtight chambers and the subsequent rotary valve is infinitely variable in speed. The speed is calculated directly proportional to the speed and feed rate of the reactor vessels rotary conveyancing mechanism and the optimal and desired through put. The main reactor vessel is completely enclosed in relevant insulating material and housed between this insulating layer and the main reactor outer vessel wall is the desired heat generating mechanism. Various design features in the heating mechanism are incorporated here within. Primarily, but not limited to electric electromagnetic induction heating, thus aiding to the zero environmental emissions legacy embodied within this patent. The large embodiment of prior art in the processing of end of life rubber products and the current pyrolysis devices cited in the prior art mentioned in this patent all address the problem of the non-condensable hydrocarbon-based gases that are produced during the thermal degradation of rubber-based products, by burning it inappropriately modified gas burners to produce a part of, if not all, the heat needed for the thermal degradation process. There are obvious and substantial negative environmental impacts in the burning of hydrocarbon based fuels in such a manner. By disposing of the aforementioned gaseous by-products of the thermal degradation of rubber in such a manner as burning them in a predominantly atmospheric environment which results in a process of incomplete combustion of the said gases. Incomplete combustion occurs when there is not sufficient oxygen to allow the fuel source to react completely to produce carbon dioxide and water only. Incomplete combustion also occurs when the complete combustion process is quenched by a heat sink such as a solid steel surface. It is a well-known fact that the burning and incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon-based fuels, in such a manner, aggravates the global warming we have been experiencing by adding greenhouse gases to the already alarming concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Incorporated within the complete embodiment of this patent is a unique method of storing and handling these aforementioned gases. Where these gases are then further processed in a separate device to environmentally safely dispose of the gases. This additional process for dealing with the hydrocarbon-based non-condensable gas component produced in this thermal degradation of end of life rubber products, results in very minimal and acceptable emissions being produced. After collection and storage the gaseous by products are further processed in a totally controlled environment, these gases are burned at a pressure and temperature which is substantially greater than atmospheric pressure and temperature, resulting in almost complete stoichiometric combustion of the gases and the production of an abundance of electricity. A portion of this electricity produced is used throughout all aspects of the the safe and efficient disposal of the end of life rubber, from the physical breakdown to the multiple thermal zone degradation process in a clean and environmentally friendly, electrical heating processing of the waste products, specifically end of life rubber products referred to within this patent, the remaining electricity from this gas processing process has the potential to be marketed in a commercially viable manner to off set any operational costs. The main reactor chamber consists of a number of individual isothermic zone's, these zones are individually controlled and infinitely variable in their heat, from but not limited to, zero degrees Celsius to in excess of fourteen hundred degrees Celsius, if so desired, to ensure the desired endothermic reaction and product outcome from each zone. Therefore the optimum configuration and size, dimension and length of the gaseous and liquid discharge lines need to be variable to compensate for the individual feed stock's chemical make up. The final carbonaceous product is then discharged through the vessels discharge port situated on the distal end from the inlet port. This final carbon black like substance is of a high quality and high grade, due to but not limited to the removal of all the steel, fibre and cloth components that are vulcanised into the rubber during the manufacture process, prior to the entering of the feed material into the reaction chamber. The high-quality of this carbonaceous carbon black substance is also contributed to the total and complete destructive distillation of any hydrocarbon liquids and/or gases within the said reactor vessel, due to the infinitely variable rotary conveyancing system's speed control and the infinitely variable and multiple thermal zones incorporated in this innovative design.

Claims (5)

1. An apparatus and series of processors which are fully atmospherically sealed for the continuous operation of non-oxidative thermal decomposition through destructive distillation of organic products, specifically end of life rubber products. This thermal disassociation of primarily hydrocarbon-based material into a carbonaceous residue and both gaseous and liquid hydrocarbon-based products are produced. a) A reactor vessel which is adjustable off the horizontal plane consisting of a "U" shaped profile of the main vessel, wherein a predominantly anaerobic environment a thermal decomposition of feedstock takes place. b) The reactor vessel consists of, primarily, a five tiered layout system with an inner rotational conveyancing mechanism for moving the said material through the multiple isothermic internal zones. The second tier comprises the fully atmospherically sealed steel vessel. A third tier comprising of the thermal heating zone. A fourth tier of appropriate insulating material and finally the outer tier of valves and distribution plumbing. c) The said reactor vessel having an inlet charging mechanism situated on one end and a discharge mechanism situated at the distal end of the elect mechanism. d) This said thermal heating zone incorporates infinitely variable heat settings.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, for the subsequent environmentally friendly destructive distillation of end of life rubber products.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a hydrocarbon-based gas and liquid product are produced and recovered for use or commercial sale.

4. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein a carbonaceous, carbon black like substance is produced as a final residue is recovered for commercial sale.

5. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein electricity is produced during the process and further used for the process.