OQ Chemicals GmbH (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) has successfully started up its new pilot plant for esters in Oberhausen, Germany. This state-of-the-art test facility enables the company to manufacture small quantities of esters that are tailored to customer needs for test purposes. The new products can later be produced on a large scale at OQ Chemicals’ industrial plants. The pilot plant is part of OQ Chemicals’ investment in research and development and strengthens the company’s position as an innovation leader in the field of Oxo Performance Chemicals. Esters are indispensable additives in many applications, especially in the plastics and lubricants industries for the field of electromobility.
“In our pilot plant, we manufacture esters according to specific customer requirements to achieve the desired chemical and physical properties. Many customers require pilot quantities of more than 20 kg for their approval processes. The pilot plant fills the gap between laboratory and large-scale production,” explained Dr. Claudia Fischer, Director of Global Business Development at OQ Chemicals. “Esters are used in a wide variety of applications, including electromobility, due to the ester’s high thermal stability, lubricity, oxidation resistance, and environmental friendliness. The new plant will also produce pilot quantities of chemical cleaning agents.”
Dr. Christoph Balzarek, EVP Corporate Development, Sustainability & Innovation of OQ Chemicals, thanked the production and engineering teams for their support in planning and construction of the test facility and emphasized, “With our new pilot plant, we can offer customers innovative solutions that are specifically tailored to their requirements. We are leveraging our production knowledge as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Oxo Performance Chemicals and continuing to invest in research and development to create added value for our customers. This enables us to respond quickly and flexibly to changing market needs and deliver newly developed ester products through our global production platform. OQ Chemicals is not only a reliable partner and manufacturer for its customers in the chemical industry, but also continuously works on new processes and products.”