ABSTRACT
Since the invention of the pneumatic tire, fillers have played an important role in tire performance, alongside that of the polymer. The introduction of carbon black as a reinforcing filler early in the last century was possibly the most important single advance ever in tire technology. It provided about a 10-fold increase in service life compared to what was used previously. The tire industry is by far the largest consumer for carbon black, so it should not be surprising that a major focus for research and development at carbon black producers has been understanding and improving the performance of carbon black and other fillers in tires. During mixing of carbon black pellets with polymer, distributive and dispersive mixing processes control the dispersion quality, after incorporation has taken place. There are various factors that influence the dispersion process, such as the mixing equipment, compound formulation, mixing sequence, and mixing conditions.
