The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing funding to support a US$1.25 million collaborative project with Bridgestone Americas, Inc., and PPG.
This project focuses on improving the fuel efficiency of truck and bus radial tyres using PPG’s Agilon performance silica platform. The goal of the project is to deliver fuel-efficient prototype tyres to DOE. Research and development work for the project will be completed at PPG’s Monroeville, Pennsylvania, facility.
Anup Jain, PPG vice president, specialty coatings and materials, said PPG’s collaboration with Bridgestone has the potential to significantly change the truck tyre industry. “We are excited to partner with Bridgestone on this important project,” he said. “The DOE funding validates what our preliminary research already has shown – that Agilon performance silica has significant potential as a next-generation filler to help increase truck tyre fuel efficiency.”
According to Kurt Danielson, president, Bridgestone Commercial Group, Bridgestone has a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability. The company’s environmental mission is “to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations,” and as the world’s largest tyre and rubber company, Danielson said Bridgestone believes it has a corporate responsibility to produce sustainable products in the most sustainable way. Using 2005 data as a baseline, the company’s midterm target is to achieve a 35 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. “Our partnership with PPG was created for our customers,” Danielson said. “We are constantly working to deliver innovative solutions that not only align with our company’s environmental mission but will also carry cost saving benefits for our truck and bus radial tyre customers.”
Agilon performance silica is a high-value technology platform of chemically modified precipitated silica that can improve the performance of rubber products in which it is used. Testing indicates that the chemical modifications used to produce Agilon performance silica make the silica more compatible with the natural rubber typically used in truck and bus radial tyre applications. This will allow the silica to better mix with the rubber, enabling better tyre performance than is possible with conventional silicas. PPG pioneered synthetic precipitated silica products, becoming one of the first manufacturers to bring them to the marketplace in the 1930s.