Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com) broke ground on a capacity increase for its Therminol heat transfer fluids. The plant expansion, located in Newport, Wales, will be a new manufacturing facility capable of producing Therminol 66 and other biphenyl-based co-products. The facility is expected to be operational in the second half of 2014 and will increase Eastman’s total capacity for Therminol 66 by more than 50%.
Therminol heat transfer fluids are synthetic fluids used for indirect heating and cooling of chemical processes. These fluids may also be used in consumable products, as raw materials, or as process solvents in chemical applications where high boiling point, low vapor pressure, and thermal stability attributes are needed. Therminol 66 is used in high temperature applications and serves many end markets, such as oil and gas, polymers, waste heat recovery, and others.