Degussa tackles rolling resistance with new tyre silane

Dusseldorf, Germany -- Degussa AG has developed a new silane that is aimed at further reducing rolling resistance in tyres.

According to the German specialty chemicals producer, tyres with its new Si 363 silane would save drivers between 3 and 8 percent in fuel compared to tyres with carbon black.

“Based on 30 000 kilometers driven per year, the money spent on a new set of tyres can be recovered within one year,” Thomas Hermann, head of Degussa's advanced fillers and pigments business unit, said.

Bernhard Schwaiger, head of Degussa's advanced fillers technical service department, said there are also ecological benefits to the new silane.

“In contrast to silanes used in the past, VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions in the tyre manufacturing process are reduced by up to 80 percent,” he said.