Full implementation of the GHS (Globally Harmonized System) regulations are set to be in place by mid-2015, and the European Union’s REACh registration requirements are to be completely updated by June of 2018. These new regulations are expected to affect the metalworking lubricants industry especially hard. The cost to MWF additive manufacturers to participate in the REACh program, where anyone importing or manufacturing within the E.U. over one metric ton per year of a given substance must collect and report any hazard information, physical properties and use information to the ECHA, is expected to be a large deterrent for those not already importing substantial volumes. The new GHS requirements also add compliance difficulties and end-user pushback on the domestic front, especially due to the nature of metalworking fluid additives. Environmental regulations are also problematic when discussing metalworking fluids. In the STLE textbook Metalworking Fluids, Eugene M. White writes, “MWFs are difficult to classify and regulate due to their chemical diversity and proprietary compositions.” He adds, “Another barrier to the regulation of MWFs is that, during normal usage, they undergo physical changes.” These inherent properties can create problems when attempting to regulate unused fluids. The balance between protecting machinery and the environment as well as keeping costs down poses a difficult challenge for the future of metalworking fluids and their additives.
Month: March 2015
Product Focus: Sebacic Acid
Sebacic acid, also known as SBA, is a castor oil derivative which finds many industrial uses. It is used as a corrosion inhibitor in lubricants and metalworking fluids by forming a thin coating on the metal which restricts access by corrosive ions. Sebacic acid is used in the production of Nylon 6-10 and is a common carboxylic acid used in the manufacture of plasticizers. It also finds uses in hydraulic fluids, cosmetics and candles. Lithium hydroxystearate complex greases use dicarboxylic acids, such as sebacic acid, for unusual performance parameters. Producers of SBA include China, the world’s largest, India and the United States.
NACD Pushes For TSCA Reform
Last week, the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) senior leadership traveled to Washington, DC to meet with Members of Congress and their staff. One of the key discussions centered on the recently introduced Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S.697). This legislation would reform the very outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The measure would modernize TSCA to assess the safety of chemicals through a risk-based approach, prioritizes chemical reviews to ensure the safety of each of the chemicals of highest concern is evaluated, and requires a national approach to chemical management.
For More Information see the NACD Press Release.
PAOs On The Rise
The last decade of the 20th century saw a healthy rise of synthetic base stock in lubricants and greases. One industry expert had growth of API Group IV base stock, PAOs, at 5.5% a year growth from 1994-2000. But in 1997 Castrol reformulated one of their synthetic blends with Group III base oil and kept the synthetic label. In the late 1990’s the National Advertising Division of the U.S. Council of Better Business Bureau decided it was truthful to call Group III base oils synthetic and the use of PAO’s declined. By 2012 the ratio of Group III base oil capacity versus low-viscosity PAOs increased 11-fold. Fast forward to 2015 and things are improving in the PAO industry. With tougher demands for energy savings, low-temperature fluidity and reduced volatility in the lubricant industry, PAOs are on the upswing. More efficient motors have created an increasing need for better performing lubricants that can handle the higher demands. High viscosity PAOs are also in demand, prompting ExxonMobil Chemical to open a new plant in Baytown, Texas, with 50,000 metric ton of high-vis PAO capacity. Global PAO manager at Chevron Phillips Chemical, Miles Oberton, highlighted some areas where PAOs outperform the Group III base oils, “A PAO based lubricant removes 10 to 15 percent more heat than mineral oils of the same weight, and allows equipment to operate at higher temperatures.” Currently the world has just five suppliers of low and high-vis PAOs due to technology constraints and access to feedstock. “Limited growth in feedstock has challenged growth in PAO,” Oberton continues. “But on the high-viscosity side, we expect to see 4 to 7 percent average annual growth from 2013 to 2015.” Michel Sanchez-Rivas, PAO market development manager at Ineos Oligomers advises, “PAOs decrease operating temperatures in the machines’ assemblies and components, they form less foaming tendency and give better wear control. PAOs decrease lubricant consumption and [increase] working hours on equipment. Also, they decrease global maintenance costs and give improved reliability.”
Disaster Ready?
As we move into the spring season ChemCeed LLC is looking ahead to better our business continuity plan by focusing on disaster readiness. In order to make sure that we stay informed on the latest disasters that put our business and customer’s at risk we have turned to multiple local, state wide and national sources. Some of the organizations and websites we have found helpful are:
Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley
FEMA www.FEMA.Gov
One easy way we have found to make sure that we are warned in advance of a natural disaster is to make sure all of our smartphones are set to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts in our phone settings. If you want to learn more fcc.gov has a full question and answer page http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts-wea or contact your cell provider.
Chemists Find A Way To Unboil Eggs
“It’s not so much that we’re interested in processing the eggs; that’s just demonstrating how powerful this process is,” says Gregory Weiss, UC-Irvine professor of chemistry and molecular biology & biochemistry. In conjunction with Australian chemists, UCI chemists have developed a method to unfold proteins which have been “misfolded” while being processed. The methods in use now are time-consuming and expensive; a form of molecular level dialysis which can take up to four days. With this new process it can be done in minutes. In the case of the egg, a urea substance was added to the boiled egg to chew away at the whites to recreate lysozyme. The second part involved employing a vortex fluid device designed by Professor Colin Raston’s laboratory at South Australia’s Flinders University. This high-powered machine uses shear stress within thin, microfluidic films to force the proteins back into untangled, proper form. This research could aid in reducing cost of cancer treatments and streamline protein manufacture.
For more information see ScienceDaily.
Product Focus: C8-C10 Fatty Alcohol
Having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic character, C8-C10 fatty alcohols find use as a nonionic solvent in the production of surfactants and detergents. In the food and cosmetics industries they find use as emulsifiers, emollients and thickeners. In cosmetic emulsions fatty alcohols are used to provide consistency. In technical emulsions they are used as co-surfactants and solution aids. The polar character of fatty alcohols allow them to be used as lubricants during the processing of polymers as well.
Dunkin’ Donuts Is Getting Rid Of Titanium Dioxide In Its Food
Dunkin’ Donuts is reformulating its powdered sugar to not include titanium dioxide after an environmental nonprofit requested that it be removed. A Dunkin’ Donuts spokesperson said that the ingredient “does not meet the definition of ‘nanomaterial’ as outlined under FDA guidance.” With that said, the company still decided to change its powdered sugar.
Salt Brine, Salt Rock And Your Vehicle
First the good about salt brine. The Michigan Department of Transportation found that 40 percent of rock salt spread on roads ends up on the shoulder. While salt brine, a mixture of 23% salt and 77% water, is applied wet and remains on the roadways. The efficiency of salt brine not only helps to keep the roads effectively more ice free, it also adds a cost savings with less salt used and more of it staying on the roads. Now the down side, the corrosion and rust we all loathe to see on our vehicles is caused by acid created when salt reacts with moisture in the air. Rock salt will remain in crystalline form until humidity reaches 70%, but salt brine already has the ability to corrode your vehicle, being already in solution. In addition, salt brine more easily reaches all the nooks and crannies in your vehicle’s under carriage because of its liquid form. Whether your local road works uses brine or rock, one way to help protect your car is to wash it regularly and especially after a storm, when road crews are employing deicing measures.
Chemicals Leak After Ship Collision Near Houston Port
Two 600-foot ships collided on Monday due to fog causing a leak of Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE). This also caused a shut down of a portion of the Houston Ship Channel. MTBE is a gasoline additive that is not easy to clean up, according to the commander of the Houston-Galveston Coast Guard District.