The chemical compound ethylene oxide is an important industrial chemical used as an intermediate in the production of ethylene glycol, other chemicals, and sterile for the manufacturing of rubber, paint, leather processing, Industrial Surfactants, Paper, Textile, Metal processing, Latex & Waxes, Household surfactants, Detergents, Pharmaceuticals Raw materials, Dyeing & finishing, Agrochemicals, Cosmetics raw material. Ethylene oxide is also used in other industries where heat-sensitive goods are sterilised and in the manufacture of choline chloride, glycol ethers and polyglycols. It is a colorless flammable gas or refrigerated liquid with a faintly sweet odor.
Ethylene oxide alone or in combination with other inert gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen is used to sterilise instruments for the healthcare, publication and wood products sectors. Other minor uses world-wide include its application in the manufacture of rocket propellant and petroleum demulsifiers.
Ethylene Oxide Derivatives
Ethylene glycols are the most well known derivatives of ethylene oxide. Ethylene oxide is a reactive chemical, and other derivatives it forms include ethanolamies on reaction with ammonia, which are used in gas processing, detergents and soaps and cement grinding. Other derivatives of ethylene oxide include polyethylene glycols for cosmetics, lubricants and plasticisers, and ethoxylates for detergents and surfactants.
Some Ethylene Oxide Derivatives are as follows.
Ethoxylation is a chemical process in which ethylene oxide is added to fatty acids in order to make them more soluble in water.
Fatty Alcohol Ethoxylate: Fatty alcohols contain oxidized impurities, such as carbonyls. Under alkaline conditions, even trace levels of such impurities can condense and form chromophoric species. This is observed for the base-catalyzed ethoxylation of fatty alcohols.
Fatty Acid Ethoxylate: For applications such as detergents, cleaning agents, textile auxiliares, leather, plastics, emulsifying agent, solubilize agent, wetting agent.
Alkyl Phenol Ethoxylate: Used in industries like Industrial and Institutional cleaning, Paint, Agrochemical, Emulsion polymers, Textiles, Metal finishing, NPE phosphate esters, Hydrogenerated Castor Oil Ethoxylates, Glycerin Ethoxylates , Castor Oil Ethoxylates and many other industries. Alkyl Phenol Ethoxylates are also used in many domestic products; for example in many liquid clothes detergents.
Polyethylene Glycols: Polyethylene glycols are stable, hydrophilic substances that are essentially nonirritant to the skin. The polyethylene glycol functions as the hydrophile, or water soluble portion, of the final product. Choice of polyethylene glycol and fatty acid depends on the desired properties of the surfactant. All polyethylene glycols can be used as intermediates to produce these surfactants. Its applications include food processing, paper processing, chemical processing, acid gas treatment, mining, oil drilling, cosmetic and personal care products, fermentation processes, and textile processing.
Demulsifier: A chemical used to break emulsions. The type of demulsifier selected depends on the type of emulsion, either oil-in-water or water-in-oil. Demulsifiers are used in the chemical analysis of oil, synthetic mud and to treat produced hydrocarbons. Demulsification is a general term used to describe the separation of water from crude oil.
Emulsifier: An emulsifier is a substance which stabilizes an emulsion. The main emulsifying chemical in food emulsifiers is the phospholipids lecithin and mustard, where a variety of chemicals in the mucilage surrounding the seed hull act as emulsifiers; proteins and low-molecular weight emulsifiers are common as well. In some cases particles can stabilise emulsions as well through a mechanism called Pickering stabilization.
- Silicon Oil Emulsifier
- Amino Oil Emulsifier
- Paraffin Wax Emulsifier
- Non-Ionic Self Emulsifying Wax
Esterification: Esterification is the name for a chemical reaction in which two chemicals form an ester as the reaction product, commonly used as fragrance or flavour agents. Triethylene glycol and tetra ethylene glycol may be used directly as a plasticizer or modified by esterification. Monoethylene glycol, diethylene glycol are often used in water-based paints, dry-wall compounds, glass cleaners, dyes, waxes and adhesives as a freezing point depressor to avoid damage by low-temperature extremes; also used as binders for foundry sand molding, and a lubricant for glass and cement-grinding. In addition, both homologs are also used as humectants in textile fiber, paper, leather, adhesive and glue applications.
Ethylene oxide gas kills bacteria, mold, and fungi, and can therefore be used to sterilize substances that would be damaged by sterilizing techniques such as pasteurization that rely on heat. It is still used in that role. Additionally, ethylene oxide is widely used to sterilize medical supplies such as bandages, sutures, and surgical implements.
Most ethylene oxide, however, is used as an intermediate in the production of other chemicals. The major use of ethylene oxide is in the production of ethylene glycol, which is widely used as an automotive coolant and antifreeze, and is also used to produce polyester polymers.
Products derived from Ethylene oxide have many different uses.