Manufacture High Quality Polyurethane and Other Products for Industrial, Cosmetic and Automotive Use from Ethoxylate Compounds

Ethoxylate products are manufactured by adding ethylene oxides to phenols and alcohols. Ethoxylate products have numerous applications and are commonly referred to as surfactants.

Production of ethoxylate products

• Ethoxylates are made through ethoxylation process. In this process, glycerol, fatty acids and amines such as fatty amines, tallow amines, coco amine, oleyl amine and stearyl amine are made to react with ethylene oxide. The ethoxylation process occurs in the presence of potassium hydroxide catalysts which increases the speed of the reaction.
• Fatty amines are prepared by distilling fatty acids and are nitrogen derivatives of fatty acids. Amines can also be prepared by reacting ammonia with fatty alcohols. 
• Gyclerine ethoxylate products are manufactured by reacting glycerin with ethylene oxide.
• The amount of ethylene oxide added to amines and other compounds affect the chemical properties such as emulsification, surface tension and ability to dissolve in other solvents.  The ability to control most of the properties makes ethoxylate compounds applicable in many industrial processes.

Chemical properties of ethoxylate products

Different ethoxylate or surfactants have varying physical and chemical properties. One characteristic of surfactants is that they are hydrophilic and hydrophobic. In presence of water, surfactants particles move to the air water boundary while in water oil mixture, these particles move to the oil water boundaries.

Uses of ethoxylate products

• Ethoxylate products are widely used as detergents, shampoos, foaming and cleaning agents. These chemicals are able to mix with both water and oil making it a excellent cleaning agent.
• Ethoxylate are also widely used in emulsifiers as they cause unmixable liquids such as oil and water to mix. Surfactants migrate to the water oil boundary which enhances the mixing process.
• Oleyl amines ethoxylate are antistatic and quickly disperse making them ideal cleaning agents. They are mostly used for textile coating due to their high affinity for surfaces. Amines are also widely used to manufacture soap, leather dressing and candles.
• Ethoxylate are also widely used in the pharmaceuticals industry to promote the absorption of drugs into the body. Polyethylene glycol is widely applied in drugs where it prevents the immune systems from attacking proteins.
• These products are also used in pesticides and herbicides to increase their solubility.
• Glycerin ethoxylate produce lubricants and surfactants used to manufacture cosmetics. The esterification process makes them sweet smelling and are therefore ideal for the cosmetic industry. They are also reacted with isocyanates to manufacture polyurethane products which manufacture foam and other products used in making noise reduction foam, car seats and ultra high quality cushions. Kindly Visit - http://www.rimpro-india.com/glycerine-ethoxylates.html

Current trends in use of ethoxylate

The use of ethoxylate products have been on the rise due to their excellent solubility and ability to mix with both water and oil based chemicals. The utilization of these products is in order of billions of gallons.

Conclusions

Ethoxylate products have solubility in different medium. These products are used to manufacture soaps, detergents and other cleaning agents. They are also used to form emulsions comprising of water and oil based products. These emulsions enhance solubility and dispersion of pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides and paints.

This article has been written by Govind Patel

Phase Behaviour of Different Ethoxylate Surfactants

Basic Property of Surfactants

Surfactant is a chemical component applied to increase wetness and decrease surface tension. Surfactants are both water and oil soluble. They are classified into three main types such as Ionic, non-ionic and cationic surfactants and each type bear unique properties. Surfactants are formed by combining different chemicals with alcohol by a process called ethoxylation. In accordance with industrial usage manufacturers produce and supply different types of surfactant. 

Phase Behaviour of Surfactants

Phase behaviour is the study or tool to guess the capacity of fluids under different stages of application. As far as surfactants are concerned, phase behaviour of every form of surfactant is understood in terms of the properties they reveal when they are applied for industrial purpose. This study is applied mainly in engineering industries where hydrocarbon fluids are applied for production operations such as in oil and gas or petroleum industry. Phase behaviour of surfactants is tested in terms of its compatibility with the material in which it is applied. Based on that surfactant are selected.

Ethoxylation and Formation of Different Surfactants

It is a technology with which efficient surfactant types of manufactured. Some of the highly reliable and efficient surfactants produced through ethoxylation are fatty alcohols, fatty amines, and many more. However, ethoxylates are non-ionic surfactants and those that are formed by ethoxylation with alcohol applied widely in domestic products. Fatty Alcohol ethoxylate surfactants are applicable as emulsifying and cleansing agent as they have the property to remove dirt from the surface; hence, they are used in the production of household cleaning agents.

Alkyl Phenol and Fatty Amine Ethoxylates- A multi-purpose surfactant
Suitable for both hard and smooth surfaces, Alkyl phenol ethoxylate and fatty amine ethoxylates are used as surface cleaner in industries. It also acts as emulsifier, stabilizing and dispersing agent. These multiple properties make it applicable in production of agricultural chemicals, emulsion manufacturing, paints, processing of metal surface, paper and textile industries. Fatty Amine Ethoxylates is a good emulsifier and is applied as oil field chemical and apart from that it is widely used for petroleum extraction, leather processing and mining industries

Lauryl Alcohol –Non-Toxic Behaviour

Lauryl alcohol ethoxylate is a non-toxic surfactant widely applied for its emulsifying and dispersing property. Electroplating and rubber industries find its application very useful. It has wonderful stain removing property and safe to use; hence, it is applied in manual dish wash detergents. Stearyl amine ethoxylate is one of the fatty amines. However, when compared to surfactants that are applied in oil field and petro chemical industries, these ethoxylate varieties possess relatively less phase behaviour that is suitable for oil industry. Kindly Visit - http://www.rimpro-india.com/fatty-alcohol-ethoxylate/le-series-based-on-c12-alcohol-lauryl-alcohol-98-ethoxylate-laureth.html

Conclusion

Surfactants widely used in oil fields are selected based on their phase behaviour. Since, they are applied for a range of operations starting from drilling, extraction, processing to refining. Surfactants keep the materials safe from chemical influence. However, for large scale industrial usage buying high quality surfactants is more important to obtain fine results.

This article has been written by Govind Patel.