Commercial acceptance and use of dimethyl esters continues to increase due to the material’s positive economic, environmental and performance characteristics. Dimethyl esters can be used alone or in customized ester and co-solvent blends to replace more conventional and increasingly regulated materials and industrial solvents, such as methylene chloride, isophorone, glycol ethers and their acetates, acetone, cresylic acid, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone.

A Wide Range of Recognized Uses & Applications

 Preferable Environmental / Regulatory Profile

Our current list includes natural thickening agents, emulsifiers, industrial grade corn syrup, coconut derived esters, cetyl ester wax, and acrylate copolymers.

View our Surplus List

The Tomadol® ethoxylates are suitable for a wide variety of applications, provide high performance in most detergent formulations, are mild to the skin, and are easy to color and perfume.  Their Tomamine^® surfactants include ether amines and ether amine derivatives exhibiting a broad range of functionality and performance benefits.   Their Nonidet®  products are nonionic surfactants that incorporate both ethylene oxide and propylene oxide to provide a balance of low foam and good detergency.

Across all product lines, Air Products has a strong focus on developing environmentally friendly cleaning solutions while improving performance at the same time.   For example, all of their Tomadol^® ethoxylates as well as their Tomamine^® Amphoteric 12 and Amphoteric 16 meet EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE), while offering excellent performance properties cost effectively.  Click here to see the entire list of DfE screened products or here to see their “Clean with Green Surfactant” brochure.

Additional tools that can assist you in your formulating include:

Tomadol^® / Nonidet^® Technical Data Sheet

Tomadol® Product Guide

Tomamine^® Product Guide

I&I Formulary

Visit the Air Products Website for more information.

Removing asphalt and tar residue from heavy duty paving equipment and haul vehicles is a challenge. Applicators must be sure to constantly clean and remove residue and deposits in order to maintain and preserve expensive equipment. For many companies, the most effective solution has been to use diesel fuel as a solvent to extract the material. This poses several environmental and safety issues. As a result, major asphalt applicators have made the switch to environmentally preferable alternatives with comparable levels of solvency and cleaning power.

Over the course of the last few years, we have been approached by national asphalt suppliers and applicators to find an alternative that meets demanding environmental and performance criteria for asphalt and tar removal from their trucks and equipment. Our solution: work with our custom blending partner, S T Laboratories Inc, to combine specialty surfactants as emulsifiers with bio-based solvents in a versatile heavy duty cleaning compound.

The result is Sta-Mulse® HDC, a readily biodegradable, versatile solvent blend designed for demanding applications, such as asphalt removal. This blend has become a cost-effective solution for keeping trucks and equipment clean, while maintaining compliance with applicable environmental regulations.

What makes this blend so special is not only its effectiveness, but also the versatility from both an application and customization standpoint. It can be used in a variety of heavy duty cleaning scenarios, but also custom tailored for specific application requirements (i.e. thickened to cling to surfaces for extended absorption).

Feel free to get in touch with us to find out more about Sta-Mulse HDC or tell us about your project and we’ll see if we can find a customized solution.

As a result, NPEs have been banned under the European Detergents Directive. They are also being phased out in Canada and targeted for phase-out by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Companies have long relied on NPEs as a cost-effective surfactant in a wide range of detergent formulations. Given the eco-toxicity concerns and regulatory pressure on this ingredient, however, the vast majority of detergent formulators and other companies processing with NPEs are looking for effective alternatives.

We specialize in finding suitable alternatives to NPEs for our customers’ formulations. In doing so, it is necessary to take into account several “green” characteristics of the proposed raw material alternatives, including feedstock (natural v.s. synthetic), biodegradability, eco-toxicity and regulatory profiles. Equally as important to our customers are the performance (i.e. wetting and foaming properties) and economic characteristics of any proposed alternative surfactant. Taking all these factors into account, and working with leading supply partners, is essential in sampling and choosing the most suitable replacement on the market.

For more information about our efforts concerning  NPE replacements, please feel free contact us.

DeFOREST is also a leader in developing greener surfactants and contributing to the creation of environmentally safer cleaning products. They are an official sponsor of CleanGredients® and long time supplier member in the surfactant category. The company currently lists eight (8) surfactants on CleanGredients.org, with a ninth product, DeCORE 2478-Eco, soon to come. Click here to view the list of DeForest CleanGredients® listed surfactants and link to their 2011 Green Initiative.

As the exclusive DeFOREST distributor for the Northeast, we are proud of their commitment to supporting the efforts of GreenBlue and CleanGredients®, while developing a range of innovative, greener surfactants for formulators and manufacturers.

For more information about DeFOREST, visit their website.

When a certain amount of surfactant is added to water, the molecules will begin to form micelles. Micelles consist of agglomerates of surfactant molecules inside the liquid and facilitate washing by storing hydrophic substances (fats, oils, etc.) within the agglomerates.

The CMC value indicates the amount of surfactant required to reach maximum surface tension reduction. Expressed in wt/%, the lower the CMC, the less surfactant required to effectively emulsify, solubilize and disperse soils at the surface.

Among the surfactant classes – nonionic, anionic, cationic and amphoteric – the lowest CMC’s are generally found in the nonionic category. In fact, certain nonionic surfactants, i.e. Tomadol 25-7 from Air Products, possess very low CMC values and can deliver excellent wetting and detergency benefits.

In sum, CMC measures the efficiency of surfactants. For more information or if you have any questions about surfactants and CMCs, get in touch with a member of our team.

Due to lower toxicity concerns and minimal regulatory constraints, DMSO has been found to be an effective alternative to other polar solvents such as dimethyl acetamide (DMA), dimethyl formamide (DMF), and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP).

This material is well suited for applications requiring a moderately slow evaporation rate, complete water solubility, high flash point, and low surface tension.

DMSO can act as a cost-effective substitute for conventional solvents with associated user safety, labeling, and regulatory concerns. For more information about the properties and regulatory profile of DMSO, or to obtain a sample, MSDS, or quote,  please feel free to contact John R. Hess & Co.

• Ingredient Communication: addressing ingredient disclosure requirements – Section 3.8
• Performance Criteria for all Products: detailing testing requirements to show product effectiveness – Section 4.2.1
• Packaging Requirement: At least 25% attainment of one of six Sustainable Packaging Coalition goals (http://www.sustainablepackaging.org) – Section 4.2.6
• Requirements concerning VOC or HAP containing and TRI listed products: Section 4.2.7
• Flammability: Products must have a flash point at or above 60°C (140°F) – Section 4.2.8
• Industrial Laundry Detergents: Providing information on the product’s potential to combust spontaneously – Section 4.2.8.1
• Dermal Contact: Additional requirements for products involving prolonged dermal contact – Section 4.5
• New Requirements for Enzymes and Enzyme Stabilizers: Section 5.11

Click here to access the full EPA document in PDF format

The EPA DfE program helps consumers and industrial and institutional purchasers identify products that have been screened against rigorous standards concerning certain environmental characteristics, including aquatic toxicity and biodegradability. The certification also enables formulators to partner with a credible 3rd party program and verify important attributes of their products.

For more information about the DfE program or to locate materials that are eligible for DfE focused formulations, contact us here.

Two relatively new Stepan products of note – and with greener attributes and Cleangredients approval – are Bio-Soft® GSB-9 and Stepan Mild® L3.

Bio-Soft® GSB-9 is described as “a proprietary nonionic surfactant blend with comparable cleaning performance to NP-9, is 100% active and provides moderate stable foam.” Stepan just recently announced that Bio-Soft® GSB-9 is Cleangredients listed, giving formulators a pre-screened option for finding alternatives due to environmental, health, and safety concerns.  This product has wide application potential in industrial cleaners and degreasers. Learn more on Stepan’s website . . .

Stepan Mild® L3 is a biodegradable and renewable secondary surfactant for use in a wide range of personal care formulations, including body washes, shampoos, facial cleansers, creams/lotions, and cosmetics. Stepan Mild® L3 “functions as a viscosity builder, foam booster/stabilizer, emulsifier, emollient, solubilizer for active ingredients such as salicylic acid and triclosan, and provides skin softness and moisturization.” Learn more about this naturally derived surfactant from Stepan . . .

Contact us for more information about Stepan products or other specialty chemical alternatives for safer and more compliant formulating.