Russian specialty chemical producer Vyazemsky Plant for Synthetic Products expanded its capacity to manufacture fatty acid esters, a feedstock for a variety of applications including lubricants used in refrigeration.
The company claims to be the only such producer in Russia.
“In July, we commissioned a unit for production of fatty acids,” Evgeniy Goncharenko, general director of the Vyazemsky plant, said in an Aug. 6 news release published by the administration of the Smolensk oblast government. “It is fully automated technology for production of a wide range of fatty acids of vegetable origin.”
Following the 250 million ruble (U.S. $3.4 million) project, the plant has capacity to produce 3,500 tons of fatty acid esters annually. Vyazemsky is located in the city of Vyazma in the European part of Russia.
During an Aug. 6 visit to the facility, Smolensk oblast Governor Alexei Ostrovsky promised to help the company find domestic feedstock suppliers and partners for its expanded production.
Vyazemski produces Rusoleohim-branded products such as esters, emulsifiers, emollients, waxes, lubricants, structure agents, softeners and antistatic agents. The specialty products made in the plant are primarily used in the plastic, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, while some, such as glyceryl oleate, an emulsifier, are used as lubricants in the manufacture of metal structures.