An apparatus and process for thermally de-manufacturing tires and other materials. The apparatus is a retort chamber with various zones in which tires are combusted to provide energy for the thermal depolymerization reaction, depolymerization takes place, and products leave the retort chamber. In one embodiment, the process reacts water with iron present in steel-belted tires to produce hydrogen, which helps to break sulfur-sulfur bonds in vulcanized materials. The water also helps control the temperature of the reaction, which allows for control over the types and relative amounts of the various depolymerization products.

A process for the recovery of a perfluorosulphonic acid ionomer from a component comprising a perfluorosulphonic acid ionomer is disclosed, the process comprising immersing the component comprising the perfluorosulphonic acid ionomer in a solvent comprising an aliphatic diol and heating. Also disclosed is the use of the recovered perfluorosulphonic acid ionomer, for example in to prepared a proton conducting membrane or a catalyst ink.

An improved method forms and employs a wax to modify asphalt. The method includes: (a) selecting a solid polymeric material, (b) heating the solid polymeric material in an extruder to produce a molten polymeric material, (c) filtering the molten polymeric material, (d) placing the molten polymeric material through a chemical depolymerization process in a reactor to produce a depolymerized polymeric material, and (e) adding the depolymerized material to a pre-wax mixture to produce a polymer-modified asphalt. The addition of wax reduced the mixing time necessary to achieve improved polymer dispersion compared to the control formulation modified bitumen and reduced the viscosity of the neat bitumen. Pre-polymer addition of wax is detrimental to most properties of the resulting modified asphalt. Post-polymer addition improved viscosity reduction, higher softening point and improved dimensional stability.

The embodiments of the invention relate to recycled rubber masterbatch which exhibits a sufficient level of green strength and tack. The devulcanization of thermoset rubber is provided by reactive mixing of pulverized rubber, thermoplastic matrix, main-chain backbone antidegradant and green strength enhancer in the presence of a devulcanizing promoter. The embodiments of the invention also provide a thermoplastic dynamically post-vulcanized rubber which comprises at least one devulcanized rubber masterbatch and a polymer, wherein the rubber component is dispersed as a domain in a continuous resin phase and is selectively crosslinked during melt mixing with a molten thermoplastic.

The invention is directed to use of polystyrene wastes, such as Styrofoam wastes, and carbon nanofibers to produce a highly hydrophobic composition or composite that can separate oil and water.

The present invention generally relates to a method of reducing contamination from plastics. The resulting purer plastic can be used in demanding applications.

A foam composition comprises a recycled polyvinyl butyral in an amount from 5 wt % to 70 wt %; an ethylene-ester copolymer in an amount from 10 wt % to 70 wt %; a foaming agent in an amount from 0.5 wt % to 3.5 wt %; a peroxide crosslinking agent in an amount from 0.5 wt % to 3.0 wt %; and a hydrazide crosslinking agent in an amount from 0.1 wt % to 2.5 wt %, based on a total weight of the foam composition. A foam produced from the foam composition can avoid emitting an unpleasant odor of aldehydes, and the foam also has good mechanical properties and good resilience.

A monolayer film is provided which contains ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), contamination from dirt and a compatibilizer, that can be used for producing trash bags and the like, as well as a method to successfully recycle fumigation films containing EVOH and contamination from dirt into such a monolayer film.

A foaming assistant material and a foam-molding method, which can achieve the functions of a nucleating agent, a dispersant, and the like sufficiently so that the cells can have smaller diameter, the mixing of foreign substances is prevented, and so on, and can produce the high-quality foam-molded article, are provided. The foaming assistant material is kneaded together with a raw material pellet and the mixture is subjected to the foam molding. The foaming assistant material is a pellet obtained by adding inorganic particles, a chemical foaming agent, and a dispersant to a dilution resin. An antioxidant may be added further to the dilution resin. In the foam-molding method, inorganic particles, a chemical foaming agent, a dispersant, and an antioxidant are added to a raw material resin at the same time in a state that the inorganic particles, the chemical foaming agent, the dispersant, and the antioxidant are mixed in advance.

Systems and methods of producing a solid fuel composition are disclosed. In particular, systems and methods for producing a solid fuel composition by heating and mixing a solid waste mixture below atmospheric pressure to a maximum temperature sufficient to melt the mixed plastics within the solid waste mixture is disclosed.