Coordination

Technical University of Berlin,
Institute for Civil Engineering,
Faculty VI Planning Building Environment,
Institute of Civil Engineering,
Chair of Urban Water Management /
TUB FG Siwawi

Duration

01.08.2017 - 31.01.2021

BMBF - sponsorship

„Plastics in the Environment – Sources, Sinks, Solutions“

code of sponsorship : 13NKE011A

Short description

Plastics in the environment are an increasingly
serious challenge. As macroplastics deteriorate,
such as through tire abrasion, the resulting microplastics
can enter the aquatic environment through
a variety of entry points. As vehicle traffic increases,
there is an inevitable increase in microplastics
from worn tires ending up in the environment. The
amount of tire abrasion and the resulting microplastics
entering the aquatic environment via
road runoff have not yet been researched.
The joint research project RAU seeks to address
this and will comprehensively describe tire particles
throughout the useful service life of tires, closing
the knowledge gaps on where particle loss occurs
over the entire life cycle. The goal is to identify
and assess the entry points of tire materials into
the aquatic environment and to develop reduction
measures. RAU will then verify selected measures
for reducing the emission of tire material into
the aquatic environment. On the basis of various
influencing factors, an evaluation matrix will be
developed for deriving the most suitable measures
to reduce tire abrasion in different locations.

Key areas of work

• Development of a sampling basket for fractional sampling of individual rain events
• Analytical evaluation of environmental samples for tire abrasion
• Measurement of abrasion, quantification of subsets and subsequent qualitative examination
• Further development of the pollution load simulation
• Optimise the street cleaning

Chair of Urban Water Management

Chair of System Dynamics and Friction