What Should We Do With Old Tires?
Over 1.5 billion tires around the world are wearing each year. Only 300 million – in the United States…
In fact, most of the tires are being dumped in landfills, polluting the environment and the most important is that they are accumulating each year, since living organisms are not able to destroy the rubber.
Meanwhile, the tire is composed of up to 60% rubber, 25% metal and up to 15% of cord - expensive materials and, in general, retaining their original properties for a long time.
Therefore, experts have long been dealing with recycling of tires. The easiest way is to use them as the «tire fuel» -to burn them in power plants, steam boilers etc.
But there is a weak point - tires emit a very toxic substance when burning. A more expensive way of recycling tires is grinding, ie, transforming them into a crumb or powder for further use in the useful products manufacturing.
Even more expensive way is tire freezing in liquid nitrogen, so the rubber becomes fragile as glass and easy to cut (as it being done, for example, in Japan).
In Germany, for example, worn tires disposal is prohibited by law. Germans have to visit repair shops, which are required to pick up this rubber and provide further recycling.
After some processing they’re used as «pillows» for the new roads.
Former tires provide great flexibility to the road canvas, stability and some sound absorbing functions. They also reinforce the banks of reservoirs, dams, slopes and quarries. But in general, the problem of recycling «automotive footwear» remains unsolved.
TyreSafe helps the British drivers
Women are being quite offended by sayings, that they are useless in the care of their cars. And yes, it is a stereotype, and of course this does not apply to all women, but a recent survey showed that at a substantial 21 percent of women don’t know the correct tire pressure for their car preferring to keep anyone else to check their tires for them!
This is one of the most volatile results about a tire pressure and tire safety review in the UK carried out by supporters of TyreSafe, a leading tire safety organization of Great Britain, to coincide with the Month of Tire Safety, which runs in the October. Tires Month Security focuses on the vital role that tires play in road safety and highlights the importance of the correct tire pressure not only in terms of road safety but also in their role in the conservation of fuel and reducing greenhouse gases.
Under-inflated tires, combined with the practice of bad driving make British drivers to spend more than £ 2 billion on additional fuel, and is responsible for producing 5.5 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year. Strictly exhausted tires is a serious safety risk, warns TyreSafe, as vehicle handling may be adversely affected leading to a potential accident. Part of a TyreSafe campaign is intended to encourage drivers to visit the participating tire retailers, garages and dealers, displaying the TyreSafe logo, to benefit a free tire pressure checks that extend within a month of October. In addition to main retailers, VW tires and Kia dealers also offer free safety inspection and tire pressure check. Drivers who do not know the correct tire pressure for their vehicle may enter the TyreSafe website and simply type the registration number of their car and the correct pressure will be displayed on the screen.
A Struggle With Lead Weights For Tire Balancing
The struggle for the environmental safety is becoming stronger year by year, month by month and even day by day. For example, in California, green activists have recently launched an initiative to ban the use of all the lead weights, so usual for rim balancing.
It turns out that only in California cars leave about 225 000 kg of lead on the road in a year, that turns into a dust that can pollute the water, which is used in homes and businesses. However, lead is known to be toxic and can cause damage to the brain and central nervous system of a man. Particularly, child’s body is vulnerable to the harmful effect of lead.
In 2008, Chrysler and the three leading American producers of goods for the wheels had agreed to refuse from the production and circulation of this type of weights in the state. Activists, however, are trying to achieve a total ban of such goods. At the moment, their efforts have already led to some changes. Manufacturing companies have agreed to reduce production of lead weights, though not completely abandon them.
Making new goods out of other materials, of course, will cause additional wastes. On the other hand, the second cup of weights human life and health are lying. What outweighs is obvious without much reasoning. Moreover, according to the calculations of experts, additional value is quite low.
BFGoodrich - g-Force Stud
Michelin introduced a new spiked winter tire from BFGoodrich - g-Force Stud. The time for new items is extremely successful: last year BF Goodrich tires won all 16 stages of the world rally championship, accordingly, and the champion title came to this brand. When working on a g-Force Stud attention was focused on starting the vehicle, braking and stability - those parameters, which in sociological studies are mostly appreciated in the winter tires by drivers.
The nature of g-Force Stud is easy to be read on the tread. Four line spikes in the outer and inner shoulders to ensure that depending on the size of a tire at the same time 6 or 8 spikes are cutting into it. Wide grooves, which cover 35% of the contact spot, effectively push the snow in the starting field. Flexible bidirectional lamellas not only help the spikes, cutting in snow and ice with their edges, but also push the snow from the shoulder area. As usual, the configuration lamellas ensure their blocking into rigid blocks, with an increase in burden. Large shoulder blocks are increasing car’s passability in snow. Arc channels are expanding from the middle of the tread to its edges.
Exchange rate stability and control are guaranteed by tread pattern design and longitudinal central channel. It has more than 400 sharp edges, which provide additional (with thorns), adhesion to the road, and does this by removing broken by lamellas snow and water film from the contact spot. Side arc channels are expanding to shoulder with 5 to 7 mm and covering 95% of the width of the contact spot, removing water and snow. When braking both thorns and multiple edges are working. Spikes with a larger head stands at 1 / 6 of its height making it extremely durable.
