Michelin "food for food" biotech tires will become "green food"

Can your car tires be eaten? Michelin tells you that after the birth of a green, pollution-free tire, its production, use, and recycling processes will be harmless to the environment. In the production of such pure green tires, yeast or bacteria play an important role. Not only do they have to have a full meal but also have some metabolism, which ultimately makes the tire a “green food”.

In the future, the tire factory will be built next to farmland or villages, and the kind of pungent odor will no longer exist in the factory. However, the oil mogul may be angered. When tire manufacturing gets out of dependence on oil, the entire industry will be overturned.

At the Michelin Bibiden Challenge recently held, the head of the Michelin Group's raw material product line, Gu Wenbiao, briefed reporters on biotech tires, a cutting-edge technology product that Michelin is developing. Michelin has invested more than US$70 million in R&D funds on this project. By 2020, the product will be officially introduced to the market.

Gu Wenkai introduced that the tires currently manufactured by tire manufacturers are divided into two categories: one is natural rubber, which is from rubber trees, and it is renewable; the other is synthetic rubber, which is a compound that is extracted from petroleum and is non-renewable.

“What we are currently studying is the extraction of raw materials for the production of synthetic rubber from biomass materials other than rubber trees, such as the extraction of synthetic rubber from certain leaves or fruits. In the future, the production of synthetic rubber may be able to get rid of dependence on oil. "Gu Wenxuan said that Michelin will use biotechnology to conduct research and development of synthetic rubber, use specific bacteria or yeast to digest raw materials extracted from biomass materials, convert it into an alcoholic substance, and then generate chemical reactions. synthetic rubber.

It is worth mentioning that this technology can not only produce green tires, but also can be used for recycling existing tires. “There is a vulcanization process for making tires, so the finished tires contain mineral components such as sulfur. When we recycle used tires, we need to restore the material to the original rubber, and how to remove sulfur and other elements from the rubber powder. It became a problem.” Gu Wenxi introduced that one solution that Michelin is currently developing is the use of biotechnology to treat sulphur-containing rubber by cultivating specific varieties of yeast or bacteria and eventually metabolize it into a usable rubber raw material for reproduction. . The process of this process is similar to the production process of yogurt or cake.

He said that in some small factories and laboratories in the United States and Europe, the manufacture of biological tires and the biological treatment of tire recycling have been realized on a small scale. What we need to solve now is the issue of efficiency and economy. If 1 ton of material can only produce 1 kilogram of alcohol, it is not economical. To get out of the lab, biological tires must pass this hurdle.

Kitchenware

Kitchenware Parts,Kitchen Supplies,Smoothie Blender,Professional Smoothie Blender

Wuxi Swif International Trade Co., Ltd. , https://www.swifglobal.com