364 Waste Management & Research Waste Manage Res 2004: 22: 364–370 Printed in UK – all right reserved Copyright © ISWA 2004

Determination of the initial exothermic reaction of shredded tyres with wire content This paper presents the cause of exothermic reactions in shredded tyre with exposed wire content in shredded tyre piles. Data indicate that the oxidation of exposed steel wires is the exothermic reaction in shredded tyre embankments. This would lead to spontaneous combustion. Reaction of the steel with the sulphur or the carbon black appears not to be the source of the exothermic. Laboratory tests have been conducted to determine the heat transfer properties of the materials that compose tyres (i.e., tyre rubber and wires) by using a hot-plate apparatus. In addition, one-dimensional heat conduction experiments were conducted to compare the flow of heat through the materials while varying the physical and environmental conditions. The physical condi-tions were the size of tyre shred, water content, and wire con-tents. An exothermic reaction occurred when exposed wire was present but not when it was absent. A one-dimensional heat transfer equation was developed, and parametric studies were conducted to verify the laboratory model. Exothermic reaction was found to increase linearly with temperature, size and shape of the shredded tyres, density, amount of wire in shredded tyres, and water content