The Oleochemicals business unit is a key unit in Kao's global business. The main families of products made and marketed are fatty alcohols and fatty amines.
The fatty alcohols can be used directly, in formulations for personal care or hygiene products, or indirectly as intermediate products in other applications.
The amines may be primary, secondary, tertiary, diamines or polyamines. The primary and secondary amines can be used as such in fields such as mineral flotation or fertilizers, although they usually are used as intermediate products that are ethoxylated, acidulated or quaternized for use as emulsifiers, dispersing agents and anti-static agents in various industrial applications.
Diamines and polyamines are used as corrosion inhibitors or adhesivity activators in asphalt emulsions, and also as intermediate products or, in the form of salts, as pigment dispersants.
Tertiary amines are worth noting, as they are always used as intermediate products which, after being quaternized, oxidized or carboxymethylated, are converted into a wide range of surfactants that are used in different applications such as hair conditioners, disinfectants, wood-preserving agents, stabilizers in thickening agents under extreme pH conditions and the production of organophilic bentonites and fabric softeners.