Research collaborations in focus

During the long Nynas history technical expertise and knowledge have always been key prerequisites of a successful product development journey. Knowledge is one of the most important components of R & D work that enables to meet customer expectations and stay ahead of competition. In order to pursue the true innovations, Nynas highly values research collaboration where exchange of ideas and sharing expertise can significantly enhance the quality of research.

Complex research projects with industry and research institutes/universities highly contribute to knowledge build up not only for the future product development but also allow to identify the benefits of our products and their performance in the use phase.  At the same time, it contributes to the high level of specialist knowledge at Nynas. Often such projects of high importance are well qualified for external funding.

In the ongoing research study together with the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) and a key customer we are looking into long-term performance of pavement structures made of bio-extended asphalts. The project is financed by the Swedish Transport Administration through the BVFF (Bana Väg för Framtiden) program and Vinnova through the strategic innovation program InfraSweden as well as by SBUF (The Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry). 

Bitumen is fully recyclable, and we work together with our customers to explore more about the quality of reclaimed asphalt, particularly when polymer modified bitumen was used. This project is also funded by the Swedish Transport Administration through the BVFF program and involves VTI besides industrial partners.

Laboratory evaluations are known to be time-efficient, but the field performance of our products is crucial to get the full picture. In the collaborations with the University of Nottingham (UK) and other project partners Nynas is looking into samples from real field sites to further increase our knowledge on asphalt durability and changes in the binder properties during field conditions. This project is funded by the Asphalt Institute Foundation (US).

The long-term collaborations with universities are also well recognised and acknowledged. Nynas Research has established long-lasting research collaborations with the University of Antwerpen in Belgium, University Ancona in Italy and KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Chalmers in Sweden, which results not only in specific projects in areas of Nynas interest, but additionally different degree projects contributing to the scientific research in both academy and industry. 

Among the benefits of such research work are the global exchange of ideas and research results, participation in international research collaboration, events and research programmes, sharing of research infrastructure which are vital for future competence development. Our specialists from the Bitumen research Dr. Hilde Soenen and Dr. Xiaohu Lu have peer-reviewed publications with thousands of reads and quotes according to the citation database and have been awarded as top paper authors.

Such research visibility contributes to international recognition of Nynas brand, incentivises joint studies with the scientific community and foster the collaborative partnerships.

Just recently another project aiming to further explore the wider use of biomass from forest industry in combination with bitumen for road pavement was approved by Vinnova through BioInnovation program.

These are only a few examples of how we at Nynas are dedicated to keep high knowledge standards and always looking forward to further growing the external network with universities, institutes, and industry.

Elena Minchak
Research Manager