Chilean battery startup T-Phite claims to have achieved a major breakthrough that turns end-of-life tires into new electric vehicle batteries, CBS News reports.
Innovative process
T-Phite employs an innovative process called “pyrolysis.” It basically puts used tires under extreme heat.
T-Phite CEO Bernardita Diaz explained that the process will enable the company to extract the smaller molecules that turn into three key byproducts: pyrolytic oil, steel, and carbon black.
For those unaware, carbon black is a substance that contains graphite. Graphite is essential in creating an electric pathway within batteries, allowing energy to flow.
Reuters noted that the company refines the carbon black into battery-grade graphitic hard carbon, which is used in li-ion battery anodes.
French industrial minerals supplier Imerys explained that carbon black is typically generated “by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount of vegetable oil.” It further noted that the material has “excellent electrical conductivity” and high wear resistance.
Benefits
T-Phite’s battery material breakthrough can potentially address two prevailing problems in the electric vehicle industry, including tire disposal and limited supply.
“One is the final disposal of tires, and the second is the demand that is being generated for electromobility materials.”
T-Phite CEO Bernardita Diaz
Sustainable tire disposal
T-Phite’s pyrolysis technique offers a sustainable and efficient solution to the growing number of used and retired car tires that need to be disposed of worldwide. By doing so, the company introduces a true circular economy that can further boost the positive environmental impacts of electric vehicles.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, the annual number of used tires in the waste reaches approximately 250 million in the US alone. Unfortunately, only less than 50% of that total gains a second life as new products or tire-derived fuel.
“And when you obtain materials from other waste, you are generating what is known as the circular economy.”
T-Phite CEO Bernardita Diaz
Limited supply
Using end-of-life tires to produce critical substances can alleviate the pressure in the global supply chain amid the growing shift to electric vehicles.
It will offer automakers another source of supply and may even benefit from a more affordable cost.
“Natural resources are already very limited and the fact that new solutions can be found from waste is very important.”
T-Phite CEO Bernardita Diaz
Notably, there are approximately 32 million tons of used tires going to waste each year across the world. That said, T-Phite’s innovative process can significantly aid in reducing this number and give them another purpose in the electric vehicle industry.
