Rhein Chemie opens rubber additive facility in Russia

chemieSPECIALITY chemicals firm Lanxess’s subsidiary Rhein Chemie has officially opened its first Russian production facility in Lipetsk. The company will produce Rhenogran (pre-dispersed, polymer-bound additives) for the rubber processing industry.

The product range includes accelerators, sulphur donors, antioxidants, and crosslinking activators for the manufacture of tyres and technical rubber products such as extruded profiles, hoses, and seals for the automotive industry.

The firm says that Rhenogran helps rubber processors make their production more safe and cost-effective and also increase the quality of rubber components and improve their long-term functionality and durability.Rhenogran is dust-free, thus significantly reducing the need for occupational safety and cleaning measures.

The additive also offers numerous advantages in handling. For instance, at the weighing stage owing to its simplified and thereby more precise dosing. This sustainably reduces quality fluctuations in the batch process. The granules are ideal for processing and are particularly suitable for automatic dosing and weighing. A special colour code enables easy identification and reduces the risk of mix-ups. In the processing of rubber additives in the mixture, it spreads quickly and completely in the rubber matrix, thus enabling active crosslinking substances to unleash their full effect. This reduces dosing amounts and prevents chemicals from blooming. Compared to powder, Rhenogran generally reduces mixing time by 30 to 50%. Optimal dispersion of chemicals makes it possible to meet the highly exacting quality requirements demanded today, especially by OEMs. The use of Rhenogran thus is an important contribution to improve occupational safety and to reduce the overall process costs in rubber manufacturing at the same time.

The universal binder system is compatible with all common types of polymer. Where the specific properties of the main polymers in an application need to be retained, polymer binders of the application polymers in question are used (e.g. ACM, AEM, ECO, IIR). The binder is designed such that optimal storage stability is ensured.