If you will allow, Patrick Kroeger gave his dissertation Friday and is now Dr. Patrick Kroger/ Doctor of Philosophy and Chemical Engineer (University of Louisville)
He was also appointed VP of Technology at Arduro Sustainable Rubber in 2019
He developed and implemented a process to recycle ELT rubber ( ELT=end of life tires and rubber) at U of L. The idea was conceived and presented by him in his original Master’s thesis and based on an idea brought about by a coincidental incident he and his professor were involved with. That, despite how it reads below. It is his baby.
(Official story link and excerpt below)
So very proud of him. Old used tires and expired rubber products will be no more. And can be recycled into new rubber products with any waste completely eliminated. The second major factory is set to open in Canada. They already have an operating facility here.
Kroeger said the project is a two phased approach, with a tire shredding plant built before the reaction system. He expects the plant to produce around 2.5 tons of rubber and 1.5 tons of carbon black every day. The Nova Scotia plant is expected to be operational by mid-2023.
Willing said the environmental impact is huge. “When people talk about a fundamental shift in how we do things, this is that shift,” he said. “Up until this point, there’s been no way to close that rubber loop effectively, and you end up either burning it or it goes in a landfill. But now that’s not the end of the road,” he said.
“It will begin to address a massive environmental problem,” said Kroeger.
https://engineering.louisville.edu/c...ubber-company/
“ ..company that converts waste tires (“End-of-Life” tires or “ELT”) back into their primary components (rubber, carbon black or “CB” and steel). The company has developed a patented process that provides high quality raw materials (rubber and carbon black) at competitive prices to go back into Original Equipment Manufacturing products, while providing an environmentally sustainable disposal method of ELTs
The initial research for the project goes back eight years when Dr. Gerold Willing, Professor and Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department at Speed School, was working with Civil Engineering professor Thomas Rockaway and the Center for Infrastructure Research as well as the Rapid Prototyping Center. With an American Water Works Association grant, they were studying the aging of elastomeric materials and the water utility industry.
Due to new EPA rules, utilities had begun switching from using chlorine to clean water to using chloramines. But with the introduction of the new chemicals, they began to notice rubber components were degrading much faster than they should be. “They were supposed to be lasting 20 years, but were only lasting two years,” explained Willing.
The rapid degradation mechanisms inspired Willing to wonder if there was any way to purposefully use this to degrade rubber, and the idea for the research germinated in 2012. That term, graduate student Patrick Kroeger wrote his Master’s thesis on the project. “Could this be a feasible method of recycling tires?” and the answer was yes,” said Kroeger, who decided to continue to pursue this project through his PhD at Speed School.
“We replicated our results from my original Master’s thesis and we filed for our provisional patent in fall of 2014, and then filed for the full patent and received it in 2016,” he said.
The sometimes difficult next step in taking the research to commercialization was finding funding. “At that point, we managed to cobble together some funding with a little bit from the state and a little bit from the university to continue developing it,” said Prof. Willing.“
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Originally Posted by kingcat
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