The expanded oxo capacity at Swedish chemical producer Perstorp's Stenungsund plant is now operating at full run, the company said.

The plant, touted as the single largest investment in Perstorp's history, will significantly boost its output of valeraldehyde and 2-propyl heptanol (2-PH), two key raw materials for the general purpose PVC plasticizers marketed under the Emolten 100 and Pevalen brand names.

Perstorp now claims to have one of the few fully integrated platforms in Europe providing ready access to high performance, sustainable and cost-effective plasticizers. The 2-propyl heptanol made in the new plant will feed production of lubricants, adhesives and surfactants. The company's renewable n-valeric acid, made directly from valeraldehyde, is an important raw material for lubricants, pharmaceuticals and fragrances.

Jerker Olsson, vice president of the Oxo business unit, said the upstream integration into essential raw materials, which raises Perstorp's total oxo capability by 150,000 t/y, "greatly strengthens its position as a reliable supplier of innovative plasticizers to the PVC market."

Emoltene 100, based on DPHP and used in cables, wires and roofing membranes, "is one of the thoroughly tested phthalate plasticizers on the market," Perstorp asserts. The non-phthalate plasticizer Peval meets the safety and performance requirements of close-to-consumer PVC applications such as flooring and coated fabrics, it adds.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency has urged the phase-out of a number of phthalate-based plasticizers but has listed the less toxic phthalates DIHP, DINP, DPHP as possible alternatives.