Lanxess presenting tyre manufacturing solutions at TTE

We haven’t heard a great deal from Lanxess since it spun off its Tire & Specialty Rubbers (TSR) and the High Performance Elastomers (HPE) business units into the Arlanxeo joint venture in 2016. But the company, which sold its 50 per cent share in Arlanxeo a year and a half ago, is still very much active as a supplier to the tyre industry. Later this month, Lanxess will showcase its tyre manufacturing solutions at Tire Technology Expo.

The Lanxess range earmarked for display includes a wide range of environmentally friendly Rhenodiv release agents, Rhenomark tyre marking paints, Rhenoshape tyre vulcanisation bladders, Rhenogran aramid-fibre masterbatches, and special additives.

“While the tyre 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 tyre companies by increasing the tyre performance and lowering the environmental footprint with an extensive portfolio of compound additives, release agents and bladders.”

High-quality tyres require tailored solutions in their production processes. The removal of release agents is essential for sealant tyres or low-noise tyres because this 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 portfolio of release agents that extends from traditional silicone-based products such as Rhenodiv BP-286 and Rhenodiv BP-2864, which are removed from the tyres after vulcanisation with mechanical washing systems or by laser technology, to new generation, silicone-free products such as Rhenodiv BP-166 and Rhenodiv BP-9500.

The Rhenodiv BC-1700 water-based bladder coating provides a high-performance release on the bladder surface while minimising environmental impact. With their superior lubricity and excellent transfer from green tyre to the bladder, Rhenodiv SP-1010 and Rhenodiv SP-1020 help manufacturers decrease scrap rates, thus saving resources.

Permanently coated Rhenoshape bladders enable tyre manufacturers to vulcanise tyres without additional release agents, eliminating the need to clean the vulcanised tyres. Since the spraying process for tyre blanks is then no longer necessary, no contamination occurs. Likewise, this technology ensures that no silicon is used in the tyre production process.

Nitrogen-free accelerators and reinforcing options for tyres

With its broad portfolio of dithiophosphates, special accelerators and fibre masterbatches, Rhein Chemie provides solutions for nitrosamine-free and highly reinforced tyre 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. The advantage these products offer is that they mainly form mono- and disulfidic cross-links, which are more thermally stable and less susceptible to reversion. Using dithiophosphates in parallel with sulfenamide accelerators generates cross-linking synergies which improve the efficiency of the process.

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