“After its acquisitions of Darmex in Argentina and US-based Tyre Curing Bladders (TCB) as well as the set-up of a new plant in Brazil, RheinChemie is continuing its campaign to become a total solutions provider to the tyre market,” said Mario Negri, RheinChemie’s Director for Asia Pacific in an interview with PRA recently. Having marked its entry into the curing bladder business and extended its Release Agent business by acquiring Wacker Chemie’styre release agent business, the firm says it is the only global player offering release agents and bladders for tyre manufacturing from a single source.
Mario Negri, RheinChemie’s Director for Asia Pacific
Now, the firm is exploring opportunities in Asia. With strong economic growth and surging middle class populations, emerging markets in Asia are rich hunting grounds for RheinChemie,a wholly owned subsidiary of speciality chemicals groupLanxess. “We’re reviewing all possibilities to extend our presence in Asia. It is clearly an important market for us,” said Negri.
While China is still the largest market for the firm in Asia, it is also eyeing India. This year,itopened its new Indian facility for rubber additives and release agents in Jhagadia, Gujarat, completing the transfer of production from Madurai in southern India.
In South America, RheinChemie increased bladder production by 40% in Argentina and has a new bladder manufacturing plant under construction in Porto Feliz, Brazil,with a capacity of 170,000 Rhenoshape curing bladders/year and Rhenogran predispersed, polymer-bound chemicals.
Bladder production of RheinChemie in Argentina
This is all in line with the demand for bladdersthat is expected to grow parallel with global tyre production, which is expected to grow by 5% annually in the coming years, fuelled by the megatrend of mobility in the BRIC countries.
The push for increased productivity in the tyre industry has also led to shorter tyre cure times by raising cure temperatures and diminishing bladder wall gauge. Both factors demand premium-quality high-performance bladders that can withstand these changes and maintain their uniformity.
“We’re doing a lot of developments and our Rhenoshape curing bladders with semi conductive compounds can help meet those requirements,” said Negri, adding that the focus is also on sustainable development by making use of mainly renewable raw materials.
During the interview, Negri explained how the targeted application of expertise in rubber and manufacturing technology can increase bladder service life while at the same time reducing vulcanisation times.
Bladders are used in the manufacturing process of tyres. A non-vulcanised tyre is placed in a press and once it is shut, the internal pressure forces the tyre against the internal wall of the tyre mould. This is done using a butyl rubber bladder that is then inflated under high pressure and at high temperatures to give the tyre its final shape.
Rhenoshape Bladder in curing press
Rhenoshape tyre curing bladders are also pre-treated with a special bladder coating, allowing easy release of the bladder from the mould, “Curing a tyre takes about 11 minutes and if we can save a minute for every tyre produced that would mean higher productivity and higher energy reductions,” said Negri, adding that these systems are being used in Asia, too.
According to Negri, a growing number of tyre companies are outsourcing their bladder production to optimise productivity and take advantage of the high quality offered by bladder specialists.
“Rhein Chemie keeps its direction of a local supplier with global reach ass we set sites and gain capacities near our growing list of tyre customers to serve them locally. We’re also growing our portfolio giving our customer a chance to source from us as well bladders for truck, off the road and agricultural tyres, as well as building bladders.” he added.