India’s Savita Oil Technologies Ltd. commissioned a new synthetic ester manufacturing plant, citing opportunities in new product categories and the burgeoning sustainability movement.
The plant, located at the petroleum specialty products maker’s facility in Mahad in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, is designed to manufacture synthetic esters for electrical transformer fluids, as well as immersion coolants and battery coolants for electric vehicles, Savita said in a stock exchange announcement.
The plant also has the capability to make synthetic esters for high-performance automotive and industrial lubricants, it added.
“The plant is designed for 5,000 metric tons,” per year production capacity, Savita Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Mehra told Lube Report in an interview, adding that the current operational capacity is 3,000 t/y. He declined to reveal the capital expenditure for the project.
Mumbai-based Savita – which supplies transformer oils, white oils, lubricants and other products – said that with the commissioning of the plant, it can manufacture and market all three classes of transformer fluids – those made from mineral oils, natural esters and synthetic esters.
“Our aim is basically to go for the premiumization of product range as well as look at the products that are sustainable,” Mehra said. Futuristic products like electric vehicle coolants and immersion data center cooling fluids are the focus, he said.
The company will make esters using fatty acids from several plant sources, including palm kernel, coconut and castor.
Savita said synthetic esters are the preferred base stock for EV coolants and immersion coolants for batteries and data centers due to their high thermal stability and good dielectric properties. Therefore, the company plans to launch a new range of EV coolants and immersion cooling fluids based on esters.
“In case of EV coolants, we already have one [original equipment manufacturer] who has approved our products, and for immersion cooling, we are undergoing trials with one company,” Mehra said, without disclosing their names.
Savita is also planning to launch a specialty range of esters to complement its existing offerings in several end-user markets – power, food and cosmetics, textiles and lubricants, according to its fiscal year 2022-2023 Annual Report.
In November 2022, Mehra said the company was developing new products to be launched in fiscal year 2023-2024 and investing Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million or U.S. $6 million) for setting up manufacturing facilities for new products and capacity expansion.
Tim Sullivan contributed to this article.