Crushing discarded tires and other rubber products into rubber powder is called vulcanized rubber powder, which can be directly applied into various rubber products and building materials, or transformed into regenerated rubber. Comparing the two kinds of crafts, the former can omit the process of desulfurization, washing, drying, milling and refining, and eliminate the pollution to the air and water at the same time. What’s more, the rubber powder production process is quite simple and high degree of mechanization. Roughly estimated, the relative fuel consumption of one ton vulcanized rubber powder production is 0.30, while the relative fuel consumption of one regenerated rubber production is 0.35, which can save about 20% energy.

Characteristics of Rubber Powder

For the rubber products manufacturing plant, adding powder in the sizing materials can save cost. If the formula is suitable, it can improve the dynamic property of the rubber products (such as the growth performance of flex cracking and anti-rip), and can also improve the processing property of sizing materials (such as shrinkage and fluidity), but the tensile strength is slightly down. Mixed with powder in the tire compound, such as mixed with 5% powder in the tread and sidewall of the motor lorry, can not only save cost, but also can effectively improve the mileage of the tire.

Applications of Rubber Powder

Besides being mixed with rubber products, the rubber powder can be also used as additive of building materials to improve the properties of the materials. Now in the US, Canada and other countries, the rubber powder is mainly applied in building. For example, surfacing road by using rubber powder mixed with asphalt can reduce pavement softening and deformation and improve the ground grip between tires and road. The roof covering material that uses rubber powder mixed with asphalt is more durable than the general material that uses pure asphalt material. Adding rubber powder in the concrete as the base for building and subway can reduce vibration and noise.