Fleets can improve fuel economy, according to Solvay, by using truck tires made with highly dispersible silica. Solvay’s Zeosil Premium and Zeosil1085 GR micropearl HDS, the company notes, can reduce rolling resistance by as much as 30%. Silica can also be used in retread compounds.
Solvay has eight silica manufacturing facilities worldwide, including a Chicago Heights, Ill., plant, which was expanded in 2011.