Wherever possible, the chemical industry prefers to use non-hazardous chemicals rather than those which can be hazardous to either their employees or the environment. However, despite extensive research, in some cases it may not be possible to achieve the required performance with non-hazardous chemistry.

Omega runs an extensive R&D programme from its headquarters in Accrington. The laboratories are equipped with a range of equipment and instruments to allow the highest calibre of inorganic chemical development to take place. While the R&D programme contains a wide diversity of research projects at any given time, the strong preference of Omega is to work on materials development in collaboration with customers, often involving very disruptive technology.

A recent project at Omega involved an extensive R&D programme to develop a new material. A potential new customer approached the Company and explained their requirement for a reliable supplier of an active agent used in their patented technology. Using the potential customer’s guidelines on the required product performance, the R&D team set to work on the development of a material which would meet those needs. Through an extensive development programme, the team successfully developed several new materials which met the customer’s requirements, resulting in new CAS registration submissions and patent filings.

Many of Omega products are offered as powders to meet customers’ downstream processing needs. The flowability of powders can be essential, especially in processes which involve a dosing system. If the powder is not suitable for the dosing system, blockages can occur, which in turn result in costly production downtime. By working with a customer using one of our powdered chemicals, Omega was able to understand which physical characteristics needed to be altered to achieve a free-flowing powder. An alternative grade of the chemical was developed and has been keenly taken up by the customer, ensuring the dosing system works correctly and improving the customer’s operational efficiency.

Product performance can be heavily dependent on a chemical’s physical properties. Properties such as surface area can impact how well a material mixes, absorbs and reacts, as well as its stability. As experts in inorganic chemistry, supplying products into high-end applications, Omega prides itself on the ability to manufacture consistently to tight chemical and physical specifications. In our experience, when products mature in a marketplace, new suppliers are often needed to meet the volume demands. The transfer of a process to a different manufacturer can lead to product discrepancies which the previous manufacturer had not known could be an issue. This is caused by incomplete understanding of the reaction parameters and their effects on the end product.