Extrusion International 4-2021

46 Extrusion International 4/2021 MATERIALS, NATURAL-BASED SPECIALTY CHEMICALS Alternatives to Castor-Derived Lubricants for PVC Processing Castor plant The PVC industry depends on a secure supply of additives to enable uninterrupted production of all extruded, injection molded or calendered articles. The shortage of one single raw material can disrupt the production process, and even cause a complete breakdown if there is no alternative available. In recent years, the production of typically used castor-derived lubricants has become increasingly dependent on the supply from India. To provide more readily available lubricants that are independent of castor as a feedstock but provide similar performance bene fi ts, Emery Oleochemicals, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer, has developed effective bio-based alternatives Overview of Natural-Based Polymer Additives The Green Polymer Additives busi- ness unit of Emery Oleochemicals is highly experienced indevelopment, application and global production and supply of polymer additives including lubricants for the PVC in- dustry. Under the brand LOXIOL ® , these products support the com- pany’s mission to be the fi rst choice in sustainable polymer additives. In addition to the sustainability ob- jective of using bio-based raw ma- terials to the best possible extent and providing technically superior products, security of supply is also a key pillar of the Green Polymer Ad- ditives business success. Castor-derived Lubricants in Rigid PVC Extrusion of Pro fi les and Pipes Hydrogenated castor oil (HCO) is a typical internal lubricant for PVC, so it is used to reduce friction be- tween polymer chains. This results in decreased melt viscosity of the PVC and improved fl ow. HCO is ei- ther used as a single lubricant, or as a component of lubricant packages or of stabilizer one-packs. 12-Hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA) is mainly used to disperse inorganic fi llers, predominantly chalk, in the PVC matrix. It is made by saponi fi - cation of HCO. 12-HSA is sometimes called the ”anti-plate-out additive” because of its unique dispersion properties. The only source on industrial scale for both HCO and 12-HSA is castor oil and the largest producer of cas- tor oil is the country of India. Castor Supply Dominated by One Region The green line in Figure 1 shows the global castor oil seed produc- tion volume from 2005 to 2019. The number peaked in 2011, and since then to the year 2019, production Emery Oleochemicals’ lubricants are also available as dust-free beads