QUINCY, Ill.—A slowdown in key sectors served by Titan International Inc.—with coal mining topping the list—hasn't stopped the company from branching out to areas where it believes opportunities exist.
Maurice Taylor Jr., Titan president and CEO, said Titan Tire Reclamation, which is part of the firm's Titan Mining Services business, plans to lease 10 acres from Suncor Energy, located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. TTRC will operate a pyrolysis system, developed by Green Carbon L.L.C., controlled by his brother Fred Taylor, and used to reclaim oil, carbon black and steel from tires.
The system uses about 75 percent of the gas from tires in a special reactor, according to Titan. Each 59R63 tire produces about 500 gallons of oil, 4,000 pounds of carbon black and 2,000 pounds of steel, Taylor said.
Titan will reuse the carbon black byproduct for its tires, he said, while oil companies purchase the fuel, which can be refined into bio kerosene, and the steel can be reclaimed for production of tool bits on shovels and bulldozers.
The pyrolysis system is expected to be running by the summer of 2015, and Taylor said it should be able to process about 100 million pounds of rubber annually.
TTRC plans to open a second reclamation operation west of Edmonton, Alberta, shortly after the launch of the Fort McMurray site.
He said it will move on to other locations as acreage becomes available.