Libra plant ships first betaines

Libra Speciality Chemicals has despatched the first shipments of its Librateric brand of 30% and 38% active cocamidopropyl betaines (CAPBs) from its new plant at Manchester, UK, it was announced during In-Cosmetics Global 2019 in Paris in April. About £2 million was spent on it. This followed 30 months of design and construction.

The plant is accredited to European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients standards for personal care uses, and its products can be used in many household, industrial and institutional applications. It includes a 30,000L reactor for the intermediate cocamidopropyl amine, two 35,000L and 60,000L alkylation reactors made from a duplex alloy to provide the highest purity of betaine, and a distillation column.

All this gives Libra 32,000 tonnes/year of additional capacity for CAPBs, which are used as amphoteric surfactants. They can be supplied in 200 kgs, 1,000 kg IBCs and full-bulk tankers and are both stable over a wide pH range and compatible with all other classes of surfactants, the company added.