Surfactant market Industrial products

At the end of the 1990s statistics show that the non-ionic surfactants achieved the highest growth in production rates world-wide, though anionic surfactants (anionics) maintained the dominant position in the surfactant market. Today they are produced in a larger variety by the petrochemical industry than all other types of surfactants. Their production spectrum covers alkyl sulfates (ASs), secondary alkane sulfonates (SASs) and aryl sulfonates and carboxylates via derivatives of partly fluorinated or perfluorinated alkyl surfactants to compounds with an alkylpolyglycolether substructure combined with an anionic moiety such as alkylether sulfates (AESs), phosphates, phosphonates or carboxylates. 

America s Du Pont and 3M and Japan s Sanyo pay particular attention to the development of fluorine-based surfactants. Air Products with its acetylene derivatives Surfynol and W. R. Grace with its sarcosinates (Hampshire Chemicals) have also focused on well-defined segments of the business. With world demand exceeding two million tons, the market of surfactants for industry is of a nature to attract a large number of operators, raw material suppliers, processors of these raw materials into anionic, nonionic, and cationic derivatives, or downstream industries that use surfactants in various formulations. 

Branna, T., Surfactant market update, Household and Personal Products Industry (HAPPI), 40, 67, 2003. 

One of the first published attempts to get an indication of the nucleation performance of a silicone surfactant was the froth test [39,40,41]. In this test polyol and surfactant are stirred in a reproducible fashion and the resulting froth density as well as the time needed for the foam to collapse is measured. After some experience with industrial surfactants used in the market these products with known performance in industrial liquid carbon dioxide foaming were subjected to the froth test. No direct correlation could be found between the obtained data and the performance of the products on industrial machines (Figure 2.11). 

One of the most interesting opportunity fuels related to petroleum coke is Orimulsion , a highly volatile product produced from Venezuelan crude oil. Orimulsion is a fuel used as a substitute for heavy oil in large utility and industrial boilers. It is conq>rised of 70 percent bitumen from the Orinoco belt in Venezuela, and 30 percent water. A surfactant, or stabilizing agent, is used as well. Mti ly the product Orimulsion 100 was marketed this product has been enhanced and a new formulation, Orimulsion 400 is being produced. The new formulation involves a different surfactant and the exclusion of magnesium nitrate from the product [56-58]. Orimulsion, like petroleum coke and the heavy oils and pitches previously discussed, is derived from crude oil and related products. 

Though bio-based products are a reality, their overall contribution to the chemical marketplace is modest, from complete absence in some segments, to only 10-20 % share in others, with one notable exception being an outstanding share of 50 % in the EU surfactants market (/). There are also a few industrial markets like the pulp paper industry which are dominated by renewables, but these markets are typically not considered as constituents of the chemical industry at all. 

Carboxjiates with a fiuorinated alkyl chain ate marketed by the 3M/Industrial Chemical Products Company under the trade name Fluotad surfactants. They also include other functional derivatives of fiuorinated and perfluorinated alkyl chains. Replacement of hydrogens on the hydrophobe by fluorine atoms leads to surfactant molecules of unusually low surface tension. This property imparts excellent leveling effectiveness. 

Several decades ago, metal salts of fatty acids—soaps—were the most common anionic surfactants. Due to lots of disadvantages (irritation potential, lime soap, etc.) and the rise of petrochemical industry, the market for soaps dropped down with the exception of the field of body cleaning [1]. Today either surfactants based on petrochemical or natural products can be found in the market. 

APEOs are used in domestic and industrial applications. They are applied as detergents, emulsifiers, wetting agents, dispersants or solubilisers. APEO derived from nonylphenol (NP), i.e. nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEOs) comprises about 80% of the total market volume, while octylphenol-derived surfactants (OPEOs) account for 15-20%. Because of the persistence and toxicity of some degradation intermediates, their use has been reduced in several countries either through voluntary bans by the chemical industry or by legal regulations. However, excellent properties in combination with comparably low production costs hampers their complete replacement with other more environmentally acceptable alternatives. 

An industrial blend of ethylene oxide (EO) PEMS marketed as a personal care product was examined by positive ion FIA-APCI-MS and LC-APCI-MS-MS (Fig. 2.8.8) [41]. The FIA-APCI-MS spectrum without LC separation (Fig. 2.8.8(a)) is dominated by ions corresponding to unreacted PEG (m/z 520, 564, 608, 652,...), whilst the ions corresponding to the PEMS (m/z 516, 560, 604, 648,...) could only be clearly observed following LC separation (Fig. 2.8.8(b)). Comparison of the TIC chromatograms of PEMS and PEG (Fig. 2.8.8(c) and (h)) demonstrates the dominance of the PEG by-products in the commercial formulation. It is unclear whether the observed relative intensities are representative of the actual amounts or of the different ionisation efficiencies, due to the confidential nature of the product composition. However, the spectra indicate a trisiloxane surfactant structure of that shown in Fig. 2.8.2 (R = Ac) and FIA-MS analysis of another commercial formulation of this product showed good spectra dominated by the silicone surfactants [48], indicating that the PEG by-product composition can vary significantly in commercially available PEMS formulations. 

Surfactants are used widely in industry, agriculture and medicine. The materials currently in use are produced primarily by chemical synthesis, or as by-products of industrial processes. For a microbial surfactant to penetrate the market, it must provide a clear advantage over the existing competing materials. The major considerations are (1) safety, i.e., low toxicity and biodegradability (2) cost (3) selectivity and (4) specific surface modifications. Biosurfactants exhibit low toxicity and good biodegradability, properties that are essential if the surfactant is to be released into the environment. 

There are no statistics available for microemulsion products or their annual values, but data for the surfactant industry can be taken as a guide. Annually updated lists of commercial surfactants and their suppliers are available from several sources (57,58). Chemical Engineering News annually publishes a feature article on "Soaps and Detergents" in its fourth issue (59,60). The market for surfactants is immense. For example, in 1995, the U.S. market for... 

In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of amphoteric surfactants were introduced to the market that were based on alkyl polyamines, primary amines upon which is condensed acrylonitrile, then hydrogenated to produce an alkyl propylenediamine and, with additional cycles, alkyl polyamines. These, in turn, are alkylated with sodium chloroacetate to produce alkyl polyamine polycarboxylates. Some of these products find utility in laundry applications, in personal care products and as industrial foamers. 

This legislation will have an impact on the surfactant industry. There will be an extra cost of testing, an increase in work load to compile the dossiers which will put up costs and there will be cases where the product will be removed from the market place as it will no longer be commercially viable. 

The surfactant industry is well established and the amount of information on these products varies according to their use and target market. It is safe to say that many are made in large tonnages and will fall into the 100-1000 tonne bands for registration some maybe... 

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