Ethanolamines
Ethanolamine technology is a low cost, efficient, safe and reliable process that produces excellent quality mono, di and tri ethanolamine products.  The process incorporates a simple non-catalytic reactor system that operates under very mild conditions leading to low by-product formation, high plant efficiency and high quality products.
 
A mixture of three amines is formed, Monoethanolamine (MEA), Diethanolamine (DEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA) and we are able to offer both industrial grade and chemical grade TEA as alternative products.  Our ethanolamine products are suitable for a wide range of surfactant, gas purification and detergent uses.

We have a full process engineering capability to licence cost effective amine technologies with performance guarantees for the following amine products: Dimethyl Formamide, Choline Chloride, N Methyl Pyrrolidone, Methylamines and Alkyl Alkanolamines.

Ethanolamines have a wide range of both industrial and domestic uses. They have both alcohol and amine as functional groups, which means that they can also be used in the form of various derivates.

Ethanolamines are colourless liquids with an ammonia-like smell. Mono- and diethanolamine are approximately as basic as ammonia dissolved in water, while triethanolamine is a somewhat weaker base. The addition of about 15% water to the ethanolamines reduces the melting point so that the substances can be handled as liquids at normal temperatures. The ethanolamines are strongly hygroscopic.
They occur in cleansing agents of various kinds. Monoethanolamine is used, for example, in wax remover. In cleaning agents which come into contact with the skin, triethanolamine is mostly used, being gentler on the skin. Derivates of ethanolamines are also used in many products. Neutral soaps made from ethanolamines and fatty acids are important emulsifiers. Ethanolamides, which are also made from ethanolamines and fatty acids, but at higher temperature, are used as foam stabilisers in products like shampoo, washing up liquid etc. Anionic tensides lik LAS occur as ethanolamine salts, to give the end product a faintly basic or neutral pH.

Another important use of ethanolamines is as corrosion inhibitors in various lubricants, machining fluids and cooling systems. They also occur in different types of adhesives, where they have several functions. In the textile industry, ethanolamines and their derivates are used at various stages of production, just as in plastic and pulp manufacturing.

In gas purification, ethanolamines react with hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide or other acid gases, forming water-soluble salts. The ethanolamine can then be regenerated. Usually monoethanolamine is used. Diethanolamine, on the other hand, is used when there is carbonyl sulphide in the gas because monoethanolamine cannot be regenerated after reacting with that particular substance. Low concentrations of triethanolamine, or salts of it, are added in cement grinding, to reduce flocculation of the particles. The substance is also used in other connections in cement production.

The EEC produced 70,000 tonnes of monoethanolamine in 1987 and 60,000 of diethanolamine in 1984. The USA in 1990 produced a total of some 300,000 of mono-, di- and triethanolamine.

Ethanolamines are produced from ethylene oxide and ammonia and have been commercially available for more than 50 years.