Evonik presenting silica/silane life cycle assessment at TTE

At this year’s Tire Technology Expo, Evonik will present its new cradle to grave Life Cycle Assessment of the environmental impact resulting from tyre treads based on silica/silane and S-SBR in comparison to tyre treads based on carbon black and E-SBR rubber.

The study analyses impact categories such as the Global Warming Potential, the Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, and the Primary Energy Demands. The functional unit was defined as the use of Silica/Silane and S-SBR in treads of passenger car tyres over a driving distance of 150,000 kilometres. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted with petrol consumption, fuel savings, and lifetime as parameters.

According to the study, silica/silane technology in green tyres is able to significantly reduce emissions and environmental impacts in the basic scenario in any analysed impact category considered relevant. Consequently, the Global Warming Potential can be reduced by 4.9 per cent in total over the whole lifecycle; by replacing carbon black and E-SBR with Silica/Silane and S-SBR, emissions of up to 1.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per 150,000 kilometres driving distance are avoidable.

The study also shows that the use phase has a key impact on the overall lifecycle in all impact categories. As Green tires with Silica/Silane components can significantly reduce fuel consumption, this technology can have a key role in reducing emissions in general.

Evonik can be found at the Tire Technology Expo fair on stand C816.