Lanxess completed a 15 percent expansion to its global production capacity of corrosion inhibition additives, which are used in a number of products – including metalworking fluids and greases – the Germany specialty chemicals company announced last week.
Lanxess did not disclose the new capacity. The increased capacity comes as a result of a debottlenecking project involving the companys production sites in Mannheim, Germany, and West Hill, Canada.
Courtesy of Lanxess
Lanxess’s Manheim, Germany production site. The specialty chemicals company is expanding its corrosion inhibitor additive production capacity by 15 percent.
Our technology and production teams exchanged best practices and technology know-how that resulted in our Mannheim [Germany] plant being able to adopt the filtering technology used at West Hill [Canada]. The changes in production processes resulted in significantly reducing the processing time in a selected calcium sulfonate grade, Lanxess representative Leanne Trevelline told Lube Report.
Lanxess acquired the West Hill facility when it bought Chemtura, a Philadelphia-based chemicals manufacturer, for $2.6 billion in April 2017.
Lanxess cited a report from consultancy Kline & Co., which estimated the 2016 global corrosion inhibitor market at 190,000 metric tons, with a positive growth trend projected.
This was driven by growing demand from our existing customers, as well as fulfilling unmet demand in the market, Trevelline confirmed. Lanxesss corrosion inhibitor additive customers produce rust preventatives, greases, drawing oils, surface protection substances applied before lubricants, hydraulic fluids, gear oils, slideway oils and metalworking fluids.
Lanxesss corrosion inhibition products include calcium sulfonate, carboxylate, succinic acid and phosphoric acid-based products. The inhibitors are adsorbed on the polar metal surface to form a water-repellent and protective film that protects against corrosion, the company said. Main applications include power transmission oils, industrial oils, metalworking fluids, anti-corrosion oils and greases.