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Orion S.A., a global specialty chemicals company, has launched ECOLAR 50 POWDER – a new bio-circular carbon black that will help coatings manufacturers formulate more sustainable coatings. ECOLAR 50 POWDER delivers coloristic properties comparable to regular specialty carbon blacks.

The carbon black of PCBL plant is the latest in a series of expansion projects undertaken by the Indian manufacturer. According to the magazine, last year, PCBL added two speciality carbon production lines at its facility in Palej with a combined capacity of 30 kilotons per annum. In addition, yet in 2019, the company increased production at its brownfield unit in Mundra, Gujarat by 50 kilotons per annum. Moreover, from the summer 2020 onward, the company has been strengthening its positions thanks to its new R&D center in Belgium.

Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) has confirmed the upcoming launch of a new carbon black production facility at its Tianjin site in China, with operations expected to begin by the end of the year. Part of a larger Yuan2 billion (€250 million) investment, the plant will have an 85 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) capacity, producing both hard and soft carbon black grades. The facility will include two 30ktpa lines for hard-grade carbon black and a 25ktpa line for soft-grade carbon black.

US-based Bridgestone announced recently that it has commenced producing tires containing carbon black (rCB) at its facility in Des Moines. In tire production, the company relies on carbon black supplies from its partner Delta-Energy, and uses its product, D-E Black, as the only source of the recycled material. Currently, Bridgestone has bought some 215 metric tons of Delta Energy’s rCB – this is the equivalent of over 60,000 scrap tires. By the end of next year, the company expects to apply around 6,800 of D-E Black, which would reduce over 20 million pounds of carbon emissions.

According to the officials, the move is expected to bring down the cost of imports of carbon black for tire makers, small and medium-sized rubber goods manufacturers, while reducing the protection levels for domestic makers of carbon black such as Philips Carbon, Birla Carbon and Himadri Speciality, The Hindu Business Line reports. Yet, it remains unclear if consumers will benefit as much as they would depend on the rubber good producers passing it on to the customers, they added.

Carbon black has been used since ancient times in China and Egypt, yet today it remains a high-tech material worthy of scientific interest. This is due to the numerous ways it can be engineered to serve as an essential component in a variety of everyday products – from paint and textiles to tires, power cables and batteries. To explore both the fundamentals and the latest innovations, Orion S.A. scientists have authored a new resource: “Carbon Black” in the Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology Online, available via the Wiley Online Library.

Nokian Tyres has entered into a research agreement for an international project with the aim of enhancing the quality and yield of recycled carbon black derived from end-of-life tires. The objective is to enable greater utilization of recycled carbon black in rubber compounds, providing tire and rubber manufacturers with the opportunity to create more sustainable products. Carbon black serves as a reinforcing filler in tires, enhancing their physical properties such as strength and resilience. Recycled carbon black can partially replace fossil-based virgin carbon blacks, contributing to a more sustainable approach.

Recently, an expert in tire-derived carbon black Martin von Wolfersdorff shared his views on the prospects recovered carbon black (rCB) in tire-to-tire recycling. In his press release Mr. von Wolfersdorff said he appreciated it when tier one carbon black companies spoke about rCB. The expert says top carbon black producers attend rCB workshops, presentations or conferences organized by Wolfersdorff Consulting, and there are ample opportunities for collaboration between the rCB and the CB industry, some of which have been highlighted in his Carbon Black World 2018 presentation in Düsseldorf (see image below). There is way to go, Martin von Wolfersdorff says.

Orion S.A., a global specialty chemicals producer, the company is investing €12.8 million – including €6.4 million in funding from the German government and the European Union – to further develop and demonstrate a climate-neutral process for producing carbon black from alternative carbon sources. The technology is designed to improve Orion’s yield and throughput in the production of carbon black using circular feedstocks and thus potentially reduce the carbon footprint of the process by a significant amount.