Orion’s new carbon blacks “improve fuel efficiency of tyres”

On 23 May, US-based Orion Engineered Carbons released three new products that it says create more fuel efficient tyres. The new tyres come in response to consumer demand and legal standards for vehicle fuel economy. As far as the US federal version of these rules are concerned, these grades offer reduction in rolling resistance via narrow particle size distributions and lower sidewall hysteresis; and lower air permeation through the inner liner for better tyre inflation consistency.

Jose Briones, Orion Engineered Carbons marketing manager, Rubber, North America, commented: “Compared to standard ASTM grades, a carbon black with narrow aggregate size distribution (ASD) features better in-rubber properties….Depending on the dispersive mixing technology, tread wear improves by up to 13 per cent with narrow ASD carbon black technology as compared to the current state of the art.”

For sidewall applications, Briones said that blending Orion’s Ecorax S 204 combined with N300 series grades can reduce sidewall hysteresis significantly – and thus lower rolling resistance and improve fuel efficiency – while maintaining other key tyre properties.

Briones also said that Orion’s Ecorax S 206 reduces air permeation through the inner liner by up to 25 per cent, maintaining tyre air pressure critical to vehicle safety and tyre life in addition to fuel efficiency.

He also called for studies to determine the benefit of narrow ASD carbon blacks in treads containing silica to further reduce rolling resistance.