Sumitomo pushing rolling resistance with supplier's help

ERJ staff report (TB)

TOKYO (Dec. 21, 2011) - Silicones and silanes producer Momentive Performance Materials Inc. is teaming with Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. to help push the limits of rolling resistance in Sumitomo's Enasave Premium tyre line.

Sumitomo's Enasave Premium, launched at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, is the latest in the tyre maker's line of energy-saving tyres. It has earned the highest rating (AAA) for rolling resistance under the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association's (JATMA) labeling system, Momentive said.

The Enasave Premium is the first tyre to use Momentive's NXT Z 45 silane, the materials supplier said, a coupling agent for silica-based tyre tread compound that eliminates the ethanol normally released during the manufacturing and use of silica tyres.

Albany, N.Y.-based Momentive, the former silicones business unit of General Electric Co., did not provide specifics on the tyre's rolling resistance coefficients or a comparison of the Enasave Premium's rolling resistance vs. previous models or other tyres in the marketplace.

“Our Enasave Premium tyre proves that with the right technology, it is possible to achieve key environmental, safety and performance attributes in one product,” according to SRI President Ikuji Ikeda.

Sumitomo did single out the use of Momentive's NXT Z 45 as playing an important role in the tyre's enhanced peformance properties.

Mike Stout, global marketing director, tyre and rubber, for Momentive, said, “We take pride in using our technical resources to develop products that perform well while making a sustainable difference. Our work with Sumitomo Rubber has been especially gratifying in this way.”

Momentive has been producing NXT silanes for more than a decade. Silanes in general are used to improve the bonding between silica and rubber. Tyre makers use silica in place of carbon black to produce rubber compounds that exhibit lower hysteresis, which in turn yields tyres with reduced rolling resistance without sacrificing wet traction.

From Tire Business   (A Crain publication)

Press release from Momentive