Cologne – LANXESS will be showcasing its versatile and sustainable solutions for tire manufacturing at the Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany, from February 25 to 27, 2020. These include a wide range of environmentally friendly Rhenodiv release agents, Rhenomark tire marking paints, Rhenoshape tire vulcanization bladders, Rhenogran aramid-fiber masterbatches, and special additives.

“While the tire industry faces environmental and market related challenges, the importance of cooperating with ‘solution providers’ rises sharply,” says Emre Ekici, Head of Marketing Tire Products at LANXESS’s Rhein Chemie business unit. “Our Rubber Additives business line helps tire companies by increasing the tire performance and lowering the environmental footprint with an extensive portfolio of compound additives, release agents and bladders.”

Cleaner and more sustainable tire production

Today’s high-quality tires require tailored solutions in their production processes. The removal of the release agents is essential for sealant tires or low-noise tires because it ensures that the polymers, foams or sensors applied subsequently will adhere properly. Sensors which transmit important data such as tire pressure, temperature or tread depth, to the drivers or fleet operators can help prevent damage to the tires and improve safety considerably.

Rhein Chemie offers a diverse portfolio of release agents. It extends from traditional silicone-based products such as Rhenodiv BP-286 and Rhenodiv BP-2864 which are removed after vulcanization from the tires with mechanical washing systems or by laser technology, to the new generation, silicone-free products such as Rhenodiv BP-166 and Rhenodiv BP-9500.

The water-based bladder coating Rhenodiv BC-1700 provides a high-performance release on the bladder surface while minimizing the environmental effects and increasing work safety. With their superior lubricity and excellent transfer from green tire to the bladder, Rhenodiv SP-1010 and Rhenodiv SP-1020 help manufacturers to decrease the scrap rates and save resources.

Permanently coated Rhenoshape bladders enable tire manufacturers to vulcanize tires without additional release agents, eliminating the need to clean the vulcanized tires. Since the spraying process for tire blanks would no longer be necessary, no contamination could occur – neither in critical tire areas nor at the workplace. Likewise, this technology ensures that no silicon is used in the tire production process.

Nitrogen-free accelerators and reinforcing options for tires

With its broad portfolio of dithiophosphates, special accelerators and fiber masterbatches, Rhein Chemie provides ideal solutions for nitrosamine-free and highly reinforced tire compounds.

Rhein Chemie’s dithiophosphates (including Rhenogran TP-50 and Rhenogran SDT-50) are nitrogen-free accelerators that can replace typical sulfenamide, thiuram, and carbamate accelerators. Their advantage is that they mainly form mono- and disulfidic cross-links, which are more thermally stable and less susceptible to reversion. When the dithiophosphates are used in parallel with sulfenamide accelerators, this generates cross-linking synergies which improve the efficiency of the process.

Under extreme mechanical, dynamic, and thermal loads, the aramid fiber masterbatches of the Rhenogran P91-40 series provide an outstanding reinforcing performance for tire compounds. The product helps to disperse the highly robust and very light Twaron aramid short fiber pulp evenly into the rubber mixture. Rhenogran P91-40 is not only suitable for use in typical tire polymers such as NR, IR, BR and SBR, but also for many other types of rubber such as EPDM, CR and NBR.