Surfactant

Pilot Chemical Company announced its plan to significantly expand its North American production of high-quality anionic surfactants at its Middletown, Ohio, manufacturing site. The expansion will enable the company to more than double the volume of alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) that it supplies to the household, industrial and institutional (I&I) and personal care markets.

The expansion project consists of de-bottlenecking activities, which will commence this month, followed by the installation of a new sulfonation reactor train, which is slated to go online in early 2027. 

“This investment builds on Pilot’s strong leadership position in AOS and allows us to meet the growing requirements of our customers,” says Mike Clark, CEO of Pilot Chemical Company. “Our Middletown facility, which is our largest site, is well positioned to support this growth. The site is located near many of our household, I&I and personal care customers and can produce a broad range of anionic surfactants.”

This substantial investment in Air/SO3 technology complements Pilot’s previous expansion of its proprietary ice-cold sulfonation technology capacity at its Middletown site in 2024.