Abstract
Recovered carbon black (RCB) obtained from a tire pyrolysis plant was subjected to chemical and thermal treatments for application as a filler in rubber compounds. Carbon black was chemically treated with nitric acid by varying the temperature, time, and chemical-to-carbon black ratio. The iodine number was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and the Design Expert software. To increase the iodine number, the Box-Behnken design was utilized to optimize three parameters: temperature (30-50 °C), time (6-24 h), and ratio of carbon black to chemical (0.25-1.0 g/mL). Under optimal conditions, the surface area increased, and RCB was upgraded to commercial carbon black N330. RSM analysis indicted that the iodine number was maximized (117.34 mg/g) after treatment at 46.74 °C for 23.24 h using a carbon black/chemical ratio of 0.76 g/mL. The simulated data were experimentally validated by analyzing RCB_ EQ, which yielded an iodine number of 119.12 mg/g. The content of most heavy metals in RCB decreased by more than 90%, whereas the sulfur and chlorine content decreased by 43.27% and 53.96%, respectively. Based on thermogravimetric analysis, the RCB_13 carbon black additive was eliminated at temperatures of 620-800 °C.