Energy-saving tyres thanks to silica

An investment of 75 million euro has been planned by Solvay for the construction of a new highly dispersible silica (HDS) production plant which will also produce Zeosil Premium, used to produce energy-saving tyres. The plant, with a capacity of 85,000 tons per year, will be built in Włocławek, Poland, where it will be integrated into the industrial site of Anwil, a subsidiary of the Polish petrochemical group PKN Orlen, and should be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2014.
This investment, along with the increased annual productivity of the factory in Qingdao, China, which is set to reach the 122 thousand ton mark by the end of 2013, should increase Solvay's overall HDS production capacity by about 30%, taking the total to 500 thousand tons per year. "There is a strong demand for innovation in the silica sector, especially in terms of improving tyre performance. The new tyre labelling regulations led to a four-fold increase in the use of Zeosil Premium last year, and we are expecting the growth trend to continue", declared Tom Benner, president of Solvay Silica.
Solvay Silica, a business unit of the Solvay group, is one of the world's leading suppliers of HDS, which is used mainly in the production of energy-saving tyres. Tyres produced using Zeosil Premium can reduce fuel consumption by up to 7%, at the same time enhancing other properties capable of improving the overall performance. Silica is also used in a wide range of industrial applications, related to personal care and the food sector.