Eco-friendly bark and pistachio tyres

2000/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena

Researchers from the Illinois University of the United States and the Illinois State Geological Survey have used old tires and pistachio bark to capture mercury.

Mercury is very toxic but occurs in thermal power plants. Therefore, before its closure to the environment it is necessary to proceed to the extraction of air, usually by activated carbon. Illinois researchers have tested a number of materials to analyze which one best extracts mercury from a gas jet, and found that the compound of old tires and pistachio bark is very effective.

Although the efficiency of the materials depends on the characteristics of the gas jet, the tires and the pistachio barks have functioned correctly in all cases and in one they have been five times more efficient than the rest of the materials. Sulfur activated carbons are very efficient in the extraction of mercury, but the increase in sulfur is expensive.

For this reason, Illinois researchers propose to use old tires that already contain sulfur, since it is cheaper and would be a solution for used wheels.