Perpetuus GNP Masterbatch Cuts Truck Tyre Mixing Time by 21% and Mixing Energy by 45%

Industrial assessment shows tyre makers can remove two mixing stages, save about 165 kWh per tonne of compound and free capacity on existing production lines.

SOUTH WALES, UNITED KINGDOM, October 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Perpetuus Advanced Materials today announced the results of an industrial production assessment showing that its surface-engineered graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) masterbatch can create value in compound mixing as well as in the physical performance of the finished compound.

The assessment was based on truck and bus radial (TBR) tyre production. It found that the Perpetuus masterbatch eliminated two mixing stages, reduced the assessed mixing time by approximately 21% and cut electricity use across the mixing sequence by about 45%, a saving of about 165 kWh for every tonne of compound.

Applying these results to a reference mixing line producing 10,000 tonnes of compound a year, Perpetuus estimates direct annual process savings of approximately US$240,000: about $165,000 in electricity at $0.10 per kWh, $45,000 in reduced carbon black loss and $30,000 in manpower, before the cost of the masterbatch. The carbon black estimate assumes 30% carbon black in the compound, 1% fly loss avoided and $1.50 per kg.

Perpetuus sees the largest opportunity in the capacity released. On the same line, the time saved would free enough mixer capacity for about 2,000 more tonnes of compound a year, or approximately 40,000 more TBR tyres at 50 kg of compound per tyre. At an illustrative value of $200 per tyre, that could support up to $8 million a year in additional gross tyre production value. For plants where mixing is the bottleneck, that means more compound from the same installed mixing assets, or the option to defer additional capital expenditure.

The result materially broadens the commercial case for graphene in tyres. Perpetuus is not asking manufacturers to add a graphene powder to an already complex process. Where incorporated, its GNP masterbatch supplies approximately 90-95% by weight of the relevant compound formulation, including natural rubber, carbon black and GNPs, depending on the tyre being produced. Because the filler system and the natural rubber are brought together before the material reaches the mixing room, part of the integration work is done upstream rather than on the factory floor. The tyre maker adds the remaining ingredients, including the curing package, and completes the mixing on its own line.

“Graphene has too often been presented as an expensive ingredient added to an already complex process,” said John Buckland, Founder and Chief Executive of Perpetuus Advanced Materials. “We supply approximately 90-95% of the relevant compound as an engineered masterbatch. If it improves the tyre while reducing mixing time, energy usage, loose powder loss and pressure on mixing capacity, the commercial conversation changes completely.”

Graphene materials have commonly been evaluated on physical properties such as wear, strength, durability, grip and rolling resistance. Those benefits remain important, but the industrial assessment shows that the Perpetuus delivery route also improves the economics, capacity and simplicity of compound manufacture, adding value in the factory to performance in the tyre.

With the carbon black already incorporated in the rubber, manufacturers can also reduce loose powder charging, fly loss, dust extraction load, cleaning and handling.

The proposition is particularly relevant to India, one of the world’s largest and most competitive tyre manufacturing markets. Technical performance alone is not enough to secure adoption at scale. A new material must also support a competitive cost per saleable tyre, improve utilisation of installed equipment and avoid adding complexity to the manufacturing process.

The financial value of the energy reduction will rise proportionately for manufacturers paying higher electricity tariffs. At $0.20 per kWh, within the range paid by many industrial users in Europe, the electricity saving on the reference line would be worth about $330,000 a year.

“In India, outstanding performance is not enough,” Buckland added. “A technology must also earn its place in the factory and deliver a competitive cost per tyre. Our objective is to make the adoption of high-quality GNP technology economically rational at industrial scale. We invite tyre manufacturers in India and internationally to evaluate the Perpetuus masterbatch using their own compounds, production equipment and operating benchmarks, and to judge the results for themselves: physical performance, mixing time, energy consumption, capacity release, material loss and ultimately the cost per saleable tyre.”

Perpetuus says the masterbatch should be compared with the customer’s fully burdened cost of manufacturing the equivalent conventional base compound, not with natural rubber, carbon black or graphene individually. The relevant comparison includes incorporated materials, mixing, energy, labour, yield, handling, material loss and constrained production capacity.

Tyre performance still requires separate validation through laboratory, road and track programmes. The industrial assessment adds a second dimension: a delivery system that may improve physical performance while simplifying production and improving manufacturing economics.

Perpetuus will now work with tyre manufacturers to repeat and validate these results on their own formulations and production equipment under agreed test and confidentiality protocols.

ABOUT PERPETUUS ADVANCED MATERIALS
Perpetuus Advanced Materials is a UK based leader in plasma nano-engineering. Its patented DBD technology produces surface functionalised graphene nanoplatelets and other 2D materials at industrial scale, supplied as masterbatches and pre-mixed formats for elastomers, polymers, metals, composites, coatings, energy systems, and advanced cooling applications.

PerpetuusAM.com

Mr John Buckland
Perpetuus Advanced Materials
info@perpetuusam.com
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