Waste rubber cannot be reprocessed by melting because of its three-dimensionally crosslinked molecular structure. Mechanical size reduction is the most common method for recycling and reusing waste rubber. The modified solid-state shear extrusion (SSSE) process developed at the Illinois Institute of Technology was used for mechanical size reduction of rubber in a continuous process. In this work, an extended screw was used in conjunction with the original design of the SSSE apparatus to achieve greater rubber pulverization with a higher throughput rate and lower power consumption. The operating conditions of the modified SSSE apparatus were optimized to produce finer rubber particles that could be further used in a wide variety of applications. Controlling the residence time of rubber particles inside the pulverization section was crucial for producing a fine powder without agglomeration.
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