Foam control & surface agents

The value of foam control agents in manufacturing

Foam control is a key element to improve manufacturing in many industries: crop protection, oil & gas, pulp & paper, chemical processing, effluent treatment, recycling, textiles & leather, food and beverages, cleaning products, etc. Silicone foam control or anti-foam formulations and processing aids make manufacturing more efficient, cleaner and improve the quality of products. Foam control agents also contribute to more sustainable manufacturing by reducing water and energy consumption and facilitating recycling. They are safe for people and equipment and comply with the strictest standards.

What do you need to know about foam control?

There are three different types of silicone foam control agents, adapted to specific applications:

• Defoamer agents that destroy foam
• Antifoam agents that prevent excessive foam
• De-aerating agents that control bubbles from developing too much

In the same way, for different applications, silicone anti-foam and foam control agents are available in two different forms:

• Compounds – 100% active content, used in non-aqueous media or to make aqueous emulsions.
• Emulsions – with from 10 to 60% active content, containing surfactants and water.

How can I make sure I get the right foam control agents to improve my manufacturing processes?

Foam is a dispersion of gas bubbles, stabilized by surfactants, in a continuous liquid phase.

They impact various industries and processes very differently. It’s important to determine exactly what foam control formulations work best for each application. For over 60 years, Elkem has been developing and producing a full range of Silcolapse™ products to constantly deliver cutting edge technology to our customers worldwide. The Silcolapse™ range of foam control agents is designed to be effective in a wide range of applications.

Our full line of Silcolapse™ foam control agents, delivered as formulation ingredients or processing aids, make manufacturing more efficient and cleaner, improve the quality of final products, reduce waste and energy consumption and facilitate recycling. They are safe for people and equipment and comply with the strictest regulations in many industries.

Choose Silcolapse™ Foam Control solutions improve process efficiency and the quality of your final products by:

• Reducing cavitation, spillage and other hazards
• Facilitating recycling and end-of-process reuse
• Providing longer lasting persistence over other organic antifoams
• Offering better resistance to heat and chemicals because of their chemical inertness, thus not reacting with other substances.
• Protecting people and equipment by preventing, reducing or eliminating foam as required
• Improving environmental performance and reducing waste. 

A little bit goes a long way

Thanks to their high effectiveness, silicone foam reduction solutions act to radically lower surface tension, without the need to use large quantities of the product.  This means that Silcolapse™ products are very safe for people and have very little environmental impact.

With 60 years of experience and constant R&D, the technological expertise developed by Elkem technical teams has resulted in an offer of silicone agents and processing aids capable of meeting a very wide variety of processing requirements. 

From dedicated product development to on-site technical services, our people are always available to provide you with the best products and accurate application guidance.

We work closely with our customers on a case-by-case basis to develop and customize the right products for the right purposes. Much of our cooperation is based on long-term R&D partnerships, working together to steadily improve our materials to fit customer needs in fast-moving markets.

Elkem: a full supply chain partner

As we say in our corporate statement, “We are a team of professionals, powered by passion, bringing agile innovative solutions, because we care! At Elkem, we pride ourselves in being one of the world's leaders in fully integrated silicone manufacturing, with R&D laboratories, production sites, and sales offices located in Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific.

Elkem: an antifoam supplier of choice 

More specifically, as a supplier of foam control and antifoam products, as well as a manufacturer of surface agents, we work closely with the entire chain of companies involved in reducing unwanted foam, from primary ingredients for anti-foam manufacturers to ready-to-use solutions for industrial applications.

So, wherever or whatever you do that involves foam control or reduction, we are here to provide you with the products, services and advice you need to improve your manufacturing processes and improve quality of final products.