Environment

Large rooftop solar panel installation the size of 18 football pitches gets underway at Falken tyre manufacturing facility

One of the largest rooftop solar panel installation on a single facility and measuring 100,000 square metres, the size of over 18 football pitches, is under construction for Falken at parent company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) factory in Thailand.

The manufacturing facility in Çankırı, Turkey, ISO 50001 certification

The manufacturing facility in Çankırı Province has obtained ISO 50001 certification. This is the organisation’s third factory to receive this certification, after China and Brazil.

SRI’s plant in Turkey, which opened in 2015 and also produces Falken tyres for the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), underwent technical modernisation in the run-up to certification. The measures included, amongst other things, the installation of highly efficient water-cooling pumps and the use of sensor-controlled LED lighting instead of fluorescent tubes.

In addition, aluminium cooling fans were replaced with fans made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), which can be operated on a demand-controlled basis. Further measures included the insulation of pipework in the curing and supply areas. According to the company, these measures are intended to contribute to a more efficient use of energy in the production processes.

Noise Emission

Thanks to the SILENT CORE technology developed by the Sumitomo Rubber Group, selected Falken EV tyres are designed to reduce the perception of noise whilst driving. This is an essential attribute for electric vehicles, as they don’t produce noise like cars with internal combustion engines, making tyre and road noise far more noticeable for drivers behind the wheel.

Three pillars of technology consider environmental issues

Three Sumitomo companies and a US-based recycling specialist have pooled their expertise to advance Sumitomo’s circular economy for raw materials and thereby develop approaches to waste recycling. In addition to reducing the use of primary raw materials, the development effort also focuses on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The aim of the joint research is to use LanzaTech’s biorecycling technology to convert waste materials from tyres into, amongst other things, isoprene as a raw material for further rubber production.

Equipped for eMobility

Electric vehicles have now become firmly established. At the same time, the requirements for tyres for these vehicles are constantly evolving. Falken is therefore focusing on the development of tyre solutions to meet the diverse requirements of the electric mobility sector.

As part of a collaboration with the Research Centre for Electric Drive Technology and Actuators in Munich (FEAAM), an engineering service provider specialising in the design and measurement of electric machines, further technical insights were gained. These were incorporated into the development of new tyre concepts. Among other things, properties that may be relevant to electric vehicles were investigated, such as energy efficiency, mileage and rolling noise.

The insights gained were taken into account, amongst other things, in the development of the successor model to the Falken AZENIS FK510. The Falken AZENIS FK510 is fitted as original equipment on the Toyota Mirai.

Less is more – Above-average results for tyre wear

Two Falken tyres performed well in the ADAC tyre wear test, recording lower wear figures than the test average. The results relate to the Falken AZENIS FK510 and the Falken ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN.

The 4D Nano and Advanced 4D Nano design processes used in development are designed to simulate and analyse the behaviour of rubber compounds across a range of usage conditions.

In the 2021 ADAC tyre wear test, the measured wear of the AZENIS FK510 in size 225/40 R18 was 115 g/1,000 km, compared with an average of 130 g/1,000 km for the tyres tested. For the ZIEX ZE310 ECORUN in size 185/65 R15, abrasion of 71 g/1,000 km was measured, whilst the average for the products tested was around 90 g/1,000 km.

Lower tyre wear can help to reduce the amount of wear particles generated during use. Furthermore, a low wear rate may be associated with a longer service life for the tyre. However, the actual service life depends on factors such as vehicle type, driving style, operating conditions and maintenance.