Silicone foam control agents

Crop science specialists and manufacturers are constantly innovating to produce better and safer agrochemicals to meet the agricultural challenge to feed the world's growing population. Agricultural silicone ingredients are essential in this quest to protect and enhance crops. Elkem Silicones products enhance crop science manufacturers' productivity, facilitate spreading and wetting performances on the plant. Our experts are available worldwide to advise you and work collaboratively with you to find the solutions you need.

The demand for paper continues to grow worldwide, in particular as a more environmentally friendly alternative for packaging in retailing and e-commerce. Paper, of course, also continues to be an essential material for writing and printing and offers innovative new possibilities, such as cardboard furniture and accessories. To serve this diversified market, Pulp & Paper manufacturers are constantly looking to improve their productivity through better processing, lower waste and reduced water and energy consumption. They are also working hard to comply with health and safety regulations to improve the working conditions and safety of their employees. The Pulp & Paper industry is also very active in developing innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce the use of toxic and polluting substances and increase the share of recycled and recyclable materials they use and produce. 

The interest for plastic recycling has been on the rise for the last decade due to the growing concerns towards waste management, environmental issues and greenhouse gas emissions. It is also being driven by new and more cost-effective technologies that make recycled plastics economically feasible versus producing plastics from scratch.

Oil & Gas exploration, drilling (onshore and offshore), extraction, separation, transportation and refining are carried out in extremely different conditions which can be highly variable.  From oceans to deserts and from the tropics to the arctic, the particular conditions as well as the characteristics of the petroleum materials, require the correct products to perform for the end user.

Technological development and environmental awareness have driven many industrial, consumer and institutional product manufacturers to reduce water usage and packaging. 

Civic and industrial companies, environmental service companies and wastewater treatment plants all use processes that create foam. 

Most of the time waste water contains surface-active chemicals that generate foam. Foam issues can affect waste water process with loss of quality, reliability and productivity.

Manufacturers of chemicals often use reactive silicone ingredients directly as intermediates in the synthesis of their products. Silicones are widely used as processing aids to improve the efficiency of chemical processes. As lubricants and as SILCOLAPSE™ foam control agents they minimize the reduction of effective reactor volumes, of pumping efficiencies, and of the shear in mixing operations. Foam control agents are also used in the treatment of aqueous effluent streams generated by chemical processing.

Metalworking fluids cover a wide range of oils, emulsifiers, compounds or liquids that are used to streamline metal processing and help to control such elements as temperature fluctuations, lubricate parts or reduce foaming at different stages of production. Foam is a dispersion of gas bubbles, stabilized by surfactants, in a continuous liquid phase. They occur in a wide range of industrial processes, such as Pulp & Paper manufacturing, Oil & Gas extraction, textile making, chemical processing, plastics recycling, etc. In metalworking, silicone antifoaming or defoaming solutions are essential in reducing scrap rate, extending tool lifespans and contributing to overall productivity. 

Silicones are used at all stages in the food processing cycle: from large-scale industrial facilities and restaurants to home cooking, as well as in food packaging and labeling. Easy to use, safe in handling and application, odorless and with no modification of the food properties; Silicones are hard to beat for all your food processing needs!

Textile & Leather manufacturers use a wide range of products, including specific silicone enhancers, in their finishing processes to obtain the right features for their fabrics, such as softness, water-absorbency or waterproofing levels, resistance to yellowing, skin-friendliness and attractive appearance. These processes in textiles include desizing (removal of the size material from warp yarns after weaving), bleaching, dyeing, printing, washing, scouring etc. Many of these processes produce some degree of unwanted foams that lower productivity. Scouring agents in this manufacturing chain often produce the greatest amounts of foams and affect processing particularly adversely.