Development of Manufacturing Technologies to Increase Scrap Steel Recycling into New Tires

This project seeks to develop innovative processing technologies that can enable a greater rate of recycling of steel scrap into the manufacturing of new tires. The goal of this proposal is to increase the scrap recycling rate from 20% to 80%. During the cold drawing process, the fine wires are subjected to high levels of stresses that are known to generate wire breakage when impurity levels such as Cu or Sn are too high.

Upon completion, this project will develop thermal and chemical processing techniques to ameliorate the micro-structure to tolerate higher Cu contents. This project will reduce primary feedstock by 0.682 million metric tons (MMT) of steel, 10.7 PJ energy reduction, 1.19 MMCO2e. Assumptions based on U.S. tire production and increase in recycled steel use from 20 to 80%.