OQ Chemicals Starts up Esters Pilot Plant
OQ Chemicals has successfully started up its new pilot plant for esters at Oberhausen, Germany. The company said the facility enables it to manufacture small quantities of esters tailored to customer needs for test purposes before making an industrial-scale investment.
The company formerly known as Oxea said the pilot plant is part of its research and development program and strengthens its position as an innovation leader in the field of Oxo Performance Chemicals, which include alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters and amines.
Due especially to their high thermal stability, lubricity, oxidation resistance and environmental friendliness, esters are indispensable additives in many applications, especially in the plastics and lubricants industries for the field of electromobility
In the pilot plant, OQ Chemicals will be capable of turning out trial volumes of more than 20 kg that are needed by some of its customers for certain approval processes.
Christoph Balzarek, EVP Corporate Development, Sustainability & Innovation, said the company is leveraging its production knowhow as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Oxo Performance Chemicals. The investment in R&D, he said, will allow it to respond quickly and flexibly to changing market needs and deliver newly developed ester products through its global production platform.
In January this year, the German company, part of Oman’s state-owned energy company OQ, said it was debottlenecking capacity for carboxylic acid precursors, with increased capacity expected to be available by 2024.
The chemical producer said the debottlenecking goes hand in hand with a partial reorganization of its global network of multi-purpose plants to boost efficiency, improve infrastructure and further strengthen production capabilities.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
