Cognis consolidates European manufacture of DSX rheology additives.

To meet the rising demand for environmentally friendly high-performance rheology additives, Cognis has now consolidated the European production of its DSX range of rheology additives at its site in Castellbisbal, near Barcelona.

Over the past few years, Cognis Polymers, Coatings & Inks (PCI) business unit has developed and marketed a number of innovative green additives. One of the latest of these is DSX 3800, a highly effective rheology modifier for environmentally friendly water-based coatings. Despite containing no solvents or heavy metals, it still delivers excellent performance.

Cognis began to consolidate its European production and associative thickening polymer technology of the DSX range at the Castellbisbal site in late 2004, and should be completed July 2006. The production and service center at Castellbisbal will complement the existing production facilities in the U.S. and mainly serve the European market, where demand for high-quality environmentally friendly coatings is rising very fast. As part of the process, a new reactor has been built, so that the Spanish site is now able to produce a much wider range and greater volume of rheology additives than was previously the case.

One of the latest additions to Cognis' DSX range is DSX 3800, an innovative associative polyurethane thickener for green water-based coatings. The product is based on environmentally conscious raw materials, and does not contain any heavy metals, solvents or alkylphenol ethoxylate while still delivering excellent performance. Due to its excellent efficiency at high shear rates, it provides excellent flow and leveling, good gloss and a significant reduction of spatter in roller applications. It also improves the scrub resistance of coatings, binds pigments together, and exhibits excellent sag and UV-resistance. The combination of these numerous application benefits and environmental sustainability makes the DSX 3800 rheology modifier particularly suitable for use in environmentally friendly aqueous paints, coatings, printing inks and adhesives.

"Increasingly, consumers are demanding environmentally sound solutions, but they are not prepared to compromise on quality or performance," said Ina Puscasu, market and concept development manager for consumer coatings. "In DSX 3800, we have developed a rheology modifier that meets this end-user demand and thus gives our customers a real edge over their competitors."