[Article from ScrapBook Autumn 2011]
Seder Group is established all over KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and the other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, and is a highly esteemed company in the region. The group includes companies active in a wide range of industries, ranging from basic domestic products and services to the most advanced telecom and electromechanical works. The subsidiary company Seder Environmental is currently involved in a prestigious tyre recycling project in the region, in cooperation with Jeddah Municipality. Their aim is to turn the huge quantity of scrap tyres dumped in the area into reusable materials, and thus reduce the environmental impact of these tyres.
Disposal of a piled-up problem
In 2008, the municipality of Jeddah, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), decided to find a solution to the waste tyres that were continuously piling up in the area. Having heard international success stories about tyre recycling projects, the municipality started to look into the matter and the market. They were looking for both the equipment and someone to operate it.
Seder Environment is part of the prominent Seder Group, which is involved in various projects in KSA and other Middle Eastern countries. In KSA they are active in different municipality waste recycling and sorting projects. The recycling of waste tyres was considered a major problem, and Seder Environmental felt that this issue had not been taken care of properly.
In 2010, Seder Environmental and Jeddah municipality decided to deal with this problem together, and they agreed on a long-term contract for the recycling of waste tyres in the area. It was now time to turn this waste pile into attractive reusable materials.
The specifications for the recycling plant were that it must be able to process whole car and truck tyres, with no prior de-beading. Processing capacity needed to be 4 tons input per production hour. From the used tyres, the plan was to produce TDF (Tyre Derived Fuel), tyre granulate (1-4mm), crumb rubber, steel and textile (fibre).
From truck tyre to 99.9% pure rubber
In 2008, an Eldan tyre granulation and separation plant (E4000T), as well as a Jet Air Filter, were acquired. The plant has an input capacity of 3.3 tons per production hour (producing 1-4 mm granulate). Thanks to the Jet Air Filter, the granulate produced is 99.9% free of separated steel and textile. The plant is designed for processing whole truck and car tyres with a maximum diameter of 1200mm and a maximum width of 450mm, with no prior de-beading required.
The tyre granulation and separation plant (E4000T) consists of one Super Chopper (SC1412T), one Tumble Back Feeder (TBF), one Multi-Purpose Rasper (MPR160T), two Overband Magnets (DM1450), one Silo (V4), two Fine Granulators (FG1504), two Classifiers (PC10T and PC15T), one Drum Magnet and one Aspirator (UP1750).
The Super Chopper is a powerful pre-chopper used for the coarse size reduction of tyres. It can process whole car and truck tyres (including super singles) down to a size more suitable for shredding, (approx. 50-300mm) with no prior de-beading. The Super Chopper does the heavy downsizing work, thus increasing the capacity of the entire plant. A Disc Pusher is occasionally used to assist the Super Chopper, by feeding it truck tyres.
The Tumble Back Feeder ensures a continuous flow from the Super Chopper to the Multi-Purpose Rasper – thus ensuring an optimum load/utilisation of the machine. The Multi-Purpose Rasper further reduces the shreds to granulate, and most of the steel embedded in the input tyres is separated. This is the first granulation stage, and the input shreds (50-300mm) are then reduced to 12mm in a single pass, with up to 98% of the steel being removed. The machine is equipped with exchangeable screens, the output size being determined by the actual screen size installed. The output material – chips – can be used as TDF (Tyre Derived Fuel), or they can be further processed in the plant.
The chips and liberated steel are transported past an Overband Magnet, which removes a large proportion of the steel from the rubber chips (90-98 percent). The steel is diverted to one side. The Silo ensures a continuous flow of chips into the Fine Granulator, which further reduces the chips in size, with further textile being liberated. The Fine Granulators are also equipped with exchangeable screens, with different hole sizes determining actual output sizes – for another output size, just switch the screens. The first Fine Granulator is used in the primary granulation stage, which separates up to 50% of the textile contained in the tyres. The material is first run past a Drum Magnet that removes the steel component (1-10%), and then past a Classifier, which removes liberated textile (40-50%). The second Fine Granulator is used for the final granulation stage, in which further textile or steel is liberated and then removed in the second Classifier and Drum Magnet.
Finally the remaining textile (10-20%) is removed in the Aspirator. The granulate is divided into three sizes: the oversize fraction (back to the Silo for further downsizing and separation), the main fraction (run through the Aspirator and then considered end-product), and the fine fraction (the end-product).
Two-year check-up
When Seder Environmental was contracted for operation of the plant in 2010, the plant was inspected to determine its current condition. Some of the equipment had been standing outside in strong winds, heat and sand for the previous two years. As expected, the harsh weather conditions had indeed affected the equipment, but nevertheless, it was still in great shape. Only minor repairs had to be made in order to get them into their original condition. “The machines manufactured by Eldan are strong and robust. The installation was done without problems or delays,” says Othman Mahmoud, General Manager/Logistics Manager at Seder Environmental. “The plant is also completely automatic and is easy to learn to operate. Thanks to Eldan’s introduction and back-up, our technicians were well equipped to handle operations right from the start. As the tyre recycling is done without de-beading or pre-handling, the operational safety is also the best, and the whole system is controlled automatically. The fact that it’s a multi-size system gives us the flexibility to produce different output rubber sizes, according to our customers’ specific requirements.”
The inspection went very well, Seder Environmental took over the recycling in Jeddah municipality early in 2011, and the equipment is running like clockwork.
Eldan - quality that lasts
Over recent years, Eldan has focused particularly on the Middle East and GCC countries. When entering a new market, it is very important to first focus on the region of the key actors, to create a good reputation for your company and products. “It’s no news that there’s a lot going on in this region in general, and in particular in the KSA, which is a huge economy with over 27 million inhabitants. They have a well established domestic consumption of products manufactured in the region,” says Henning Nørgaard, area sales manager at Eldan. “Seder Group has a strong local strong presence, and we know that they’ll be playing an important role in the development of the recycling industry in the region. So it’s an extra privilege for us to be a part of this successful project.”
The respect between Eldan and Seder Environmental is mutual, and Osman Mohamed Osman, Project Manager at Seder Environmental says; “Eldan Recycling has been identified as a strong, experienced and reliable partner for this project, and everything has gone very well. We want to grow in the recycling industry, having Eldan and Ferrostaal as successful business partners.” Because of the immediate success of the tyre recycling project in Jeddah, discussions about future recycling projects have already been started – not only for tyres, but also for other scrap materials, such as metals.
However, the tyre recycling plant at Seder Environmental is not the only successful plant in the region. Eldan has also supplied equipment for plants in Sharjah, Jordan, etc, all of which have been running for over 7 years. “Eldan Recycling has become a well-known brand of recycling equipment in the region. When we mention that we use Eldan equipment, our customers know that we produce good quality products. The result and reputation of the equipment speaks for itself!” says Osman Mohamed Osman. “There is considerable demand for our products, and the market in Saudi Arabia has great potential. The waste tyres keep on coming, and we see a very bright future for our company.”
“We are very happy with the excellent support received from Eldan Recycling.” Osman Mohamed Osman, Project Manager at Seder Environmental
As well as having its own sales offices in five countries, Eldan is also represented by agents all over the world. In the KSA Eldan is represented by Ferrostaal AG, more specifically Andreas Krieger, Director of Equipment Solutions, and Manoj Kumar M, Sales Manager of Environmental Technologies. By having local representation, relations between customers and Eldan are strengthened. “We’re very happy with the excellent support we’ve had from Eldan. Especially helpful during the installation process was the Service Manager, Mr Carsten Nielsen, and the Area Sales Manager, Mr Henning Nørgaard, who were always available to us” says Othman Mahmoud, General Manager/Logistics Manager at Seder Environmental. “Ferrostaal has also been of great assistance through their local offices in Jeddah, as well as in Dubai. Being able to contact the local representative as needed, at any time, is an additional assurance. We look forward to a fruitful cooperation with both Eldan and Ferrostaal. The entire project has been very successful.”
Seder Environmental is already planning for the future of the project, as they see many opportunities for other recycling projects in the region. “Seder has been very happy with the running of the plant since production started early in 2011” says Manoj. “The quality of the output has been examined by their customers, and the response has been very positive. They’ve been approached by many prospective customers interested in buying the plant’s products.”
