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ADEM Awards SSAB Alabama with $361,100 Grant for Scrap Tire Viability and Impact Study
Innovation, Sustainability, SSAB Americas
July 17, 2024 8:00 CEST
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) recently awarded SSAB Alabama Inc., a $361,100 grant to complete a scrap tire derived crumb rubber study in the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking process. Funding for this project will be used to purchase the crumb rubber and the specialized equipment for injecting this material into the EAF. This funding will also be used to work with a third-party engineering company to conduct an off-gas emissions study and subsequent report. Liberty Tire and Recycling is providing the crumb rubber for the trial.
Crumb rubber and test probe
The trial will involve substituting injection carbon (pet coke), used in the steel making process, with post-consumer secondary crumb rubber at various concentrations. Quantitative off-gas engineering testing will be performed during the trial to provide an assessment of the impact on emissions and operations. Gas analyzers will be utilized to capture trial data to determine what effects the rubber has on CO, CO₂, O₂, NOx, and SO₂ emissions. Data will be monitored for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as well. At the conclusion of the study, a publishable report detailing the furnace observations and analysis will be provided to ADEM. The trial will determine the general process viability, impact to the EAF operation, and the impact on air emissions when utilizing scrap tire crumb rubber in its operation. SSAB anticipates a reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 3 CO₂ emissions, as well as potential reductions in SO₂ emissions.
Ollie Waddell, Co-op working in SSAB Alabama this summer with the environmental team.
“We are excited for the opportunity this grant is providing us to identify another beneficial reuse of scrap tires and potential landfill avoidance, “said Tony Cooper, Senior Environmental Manager for SSAB Alabama. “As companies around the world are exploring ways to reduce their carbon footprint, we hope the information identified in this study will assist others in achieving their goals for zero carbon emissions.”
Since 2003, SSAB Alabama has used scrap tires to offset a portion of the charge coal needed in the steelmaking process, and over the last 11 years, more than 8 million scrap tires have been diverted from landfills and used in SSAB’s operations.
The Alabama Scrap Tire Environmental Quality Act was passed in 2003 to comprehensively regulate scrap tire accumulations and to provide for cleanup and remediation of illegal scrap tire piles. The “Scrap Tire Recycling Program” was created by ADEM to regulate management of scrap tires in the state, and to fund this effort, this Act placed a $1 per tire fee on all tires sold. A key component of this program is to investigate alternatives to scrap tire disposal through studies to determine potential beneficial uses of scrap tire material.
