The technology for the plant includes pyrolysis and hydrotreating, both long-standing and established technologies.
Pyrolysis is the heating of a material in an oxygen free atmosphere so there is no combustion. The material thermally decomposes into gases and solids.
Later in the process, the gas is cooled causing oils to condense giving tyre derived oil (TDO) for further refining. The solids produced are largely made of pure carbon, and can be processed into a recovered material suitable for many different uses including the production of new tyres.
Hydroprocessing primarily removes sulphur and other contaminants from the oils before their separation into the product streams. The TDO is separated and filtered to remove solids, before being fed into a chemical reaction. In the reaction, the TDO is heated and mixed with hydrogen for hydrodesulphurisation, before the products are washed and cooled.
The gases fraction is recycled and used in the process, and the liquids are split into the three products: development fuel diesel, naphtha (a component in gasoline) and very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO).
