COOPER Tire & Rubber Company and the Industrias Negromex S.A. de C.V. (INSA) subsidiary of Grupo KUO will be developing and commercialising silica masterbatch (SMB) technology, following their successful application of SMB in high volume material and tyre manufacturing.
Cooper has used SMB to manufacture more than 2 million premium passenger tyres. It said the technology improved mixing productivity and flexibility; eliminates volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions associated with the standard silanization process of mixing silica; and improved silica dispersion in tyre tread formulations, which led to better traction, wear and rolling resistance performance in the tyres.
“Day-to-day use of this technology has had a major impact on our company’s manufacturing productivity and competitiveness,” said Chuck Yurkovich, Cooper Tire’s Vice President, Global Research and Development.
Meanwhile, INSA plans to expand the capacity of SMB production and market the product under the brand name, Emulsil Silica Masterbatch. New production capacity is expected to be available by the first quarter of 2014.