Material breakthrough brings bright prospects to the tire industry

Filling the blank cis isoprene rubber in the domestic synthetic rubber field and the trans-isoprene rubber with unique rubber-plastic duality, all successfully developed in Qingdao and have entered the stage of industrialization.

The National Rubber and Tyre Engineering Technology Research Center Wang Mengxi team developed a new tire surface material. The tires using this new material have reached the European Union's Class B standard in terms of fuel efficiency and grip on wet roads. This is the first Chinese tire to receive double-B tires after the EU Tire Label Law was introduced. At present, such tires have been put into large-scale production by enterprises in Qingdao.

What can you think of when it comes to pollution? Chemical plants, steel mills, fertilizer plants, paper mills, all right, these are all counted. But did you think of a tire?

Nowadays tires that run on highways all over the world are no less harmful to the environment than people who are traditionally contaminated by pollution. Like home appliances have the level of energy saving and environmental protection, the EU has also launched a labeling law to promote the green environmental protection of tires in 2012. Data supporting this legislation shows that 18% of global carbon dioxide emissions are related to road traffic and 24% of road vehicles are carbon dioxide. Emissions are related to tires, and at the same time 20%-30% of the car's fuel consumption is related to tires.

In addition to the EU, South Korea and Japan also have their own tire labeling method. For governments and tire manufacturers around the world, it has become a necessity to match cars with more environmentally friendly green tires.

To this end, researchers around the world are constantly seeking new formulations, new materials and new processes.

"All of this is aimed at reducing the tire's rolling resistance and at the same time enhancing its wear resistance. This is the key to getting the tires greener." Sitting in the temporary office, the chief scientist of the National Rubber and Tyre Engineering Technology Research Center Wang Mengyu, director of the Institute of Materials Research, told reporters.

Outside the window, it is a capped material research institute building. In the future, many research teams at home and abroad are expected to enter the field and build a world-class innovation highland in the field of new materials for rubber tires.

Big environmental protection in small tires

Tire and environmental protection, how much relationship between them, Wang Mengyu first told a story.

“When I was working in the U.S., someone asked me if there are 8 million tons of carbon black in the world each year. Where did they all go?” These materials used on tires can make tens of square meters for a single gram of material. The room was all black, but after the tires were worn, people couldn't see it. So Wang Mengyu started asking around, but the result was disappointing. Although some people in the industry wanted to study the material left over from tire wear, they did not catch it.

In an accidental situation, Wang Mengxi learned that doctors were investigating the connection between cars and asthma. He entered two keywords, "tire and asthma," on search engines and found that there were many medical papers to discuss this issue. Doctors suggested that the small particles that wear out during tire use are closely related to the increased incidence of asthma.

"I have had a calculation. An ordinary car. If it runs 68 kilometers a day, the dust it wears down can make the PM2.5 value in a 30,000-square-meter building reach 50." Wang Mengxi said, improving tire resistance. Grinding, reducing its wear, is the key to changing this situation.

In addition, how to improve the rolling resistance of the tire while ensuring the wear resistance is another important goal of the green tire.

“Reducing rolling resistance means that cars run the same distance, burn less oil, and reduce CO2 emissions.” Wang Mengzhu also used the figures to say: “Each reduction of rolling resistance by 10% can save 0.16 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers. Emission reduction of carbon dioxide 200-300 grams.In 2012 China's tire production was 483 million, (turning to eleventh edition)

If the rolling resistance of these tires is reduced by 10%, it means that the emission reduction of carbon dioxide is close to 250 million tons per year. ”

"Distribution" green new material

Manufacturing more environmentally friendly tires places higher demands on the development of new materials for rubber tires. In this area, Qingdao’s research has made continuous breakthroughs. Filling the blank cis-isoprene rubber in the domestic synthetic rubber field, and the unique rubber-plastic double-strand trans-isoprene rubber, all successfully developed in Qingdao.

In 2012, Wang Mengxi team developed a new tire surface material, in the subsequent inspection sent to the European Union, the application of new materials of tires in the fuel efficiency, slippery road grip to meet the EU's Class B standards. This is the first Chinese tire to receive double-B tires after the EU Tire Label Law was introduced.

Wang Mengyu told reporters that in addition to the concept of a very small number of tires, the world has not yet got the EU Class A standard tires, that is to say, this tire in both aspects of performance has reached the world's top level.

What kind of new material is this? Wang Mengyu told reporters, "The three elements, silica, silane coupling agent, dissolving rubber." He said that in fact, the basic material composition of green rubber tires in the world is similar, but the formula is different, that is, between various materials. The matching relationship.

"I'm like a Chinese medicine. According to pharmacology, we can face different diseases and match herbs to different prescriptions." According to different branches and applications in the new material field of rubber tires, Wang Mengqi also used different formulas to create new materials. .

"It is not difficult to reduce rolling resistance, and it is difficult to balance the performance of tires." Wang Mengxi said that low rolling resistance, high wet skid resistance and high wear resistance are called "devil triangles" for tire performance. The general view is that The three are a kind of shifting relationship. In particular, while reducing the rolling resistance, it is inevitable that the wear resistance is sacrificed. Wang Menglu always believes that the real green tire can not ignore its wear resistance. He led the team and is also committed to breaking the "Devil Triangle."

Material breakthrough brings bright prospects

The breakthrough in the field of new materials for rubber tires is really looking forward to the Qingdao rubber industry, which has a long history and deep foundation.

Icos, which produces cis-isoprene rubber, and the company that produces trans-isoprene rubber, have entered the stage of industrialization. The former plans to invest 2.4 billion yuan in the next five years to form an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of synthetic rubber and to match the production of raw materials. The latter's 10,000-ton production facility will be put into use this year, and the company has already signed a supply contract of 150 tons per month with Goodyear before the product is produced. Goodyear will use trans-isoprene rubber Its production of high-performance tires.

Tires that have obtained the EU's dual-B grade certification have also been put into production at Race Wheels. Nearly half of the tire manufacturers in the country are subject to the European Union's tire labeling method, and the products of the race wheels are expected to gain more market share.

As the source of all these new materials, the National Rubber and Tire Engineering Research Center Material Research Institute has also been listed as one of the two public technology platforms that this city has focused on building this year. The municipal government has invested 50 million yuan as a platform to purchase experimental equipment.

We have reason to expect that China's green tire R&D and industrial highlands will rise in Qingdao.