Mumbai, November 26, 2018: Galaxy Surfactants Limited, one of the fastest growing speciality chemical companies has been awarded Green Process Innovation Award at the 15^th ICIS Innovation Awards which were held recently. ICIS is the world’s largest petrochemical market information provider.
 
Galaxy Surfactants wins the Green Process Innovation recognition for the manufacture or novel catalytic route to amino acid surfactants.
 
Dr. Nirmal Koshti, Director of Innovation at Galaxy Surfactants Limited believes that if a product is not good for the environment, then it loses its charm. It is important that both the product and the process of making it are eco-friendly. This attitude was the main driver behind search and subsequent invention of a “smart catalyst”.
 
The Best Process Innovation category saw a number of strong entries, but the judges elected to give the award to Galaxy Surfactants for its novel, environmentally friendly process to produce N-acyl amino acid surfactants.
 
These mild anionic surfactants find uses in personal care products such as skin and hair care, providing cleansing as well as sensory benefits. The process of amino acid surfactant manufacture employing ‘the smart catalyst’ meets all the norms of Green Chemistry. Since the catalysis is effected by the surfactant which is non-toxic & biodegradable, one doesn’t have to isolate from the intermediate or end product unlike the traditional process.  It therefore addresses all the woes of conventional manufacture of amino acid surfactants. 
 

This innovation is applicable to an entire family of amino-acid based surfactants and can be extended to other acid chlorides in general that are intermediaries for a variety of chemical industries.

Dr. Koshti feels that Galaxy’s strong desire to create new value through innovation has led to this breakthrough. The process of manufacturing is based on smart chemistry, wherein the surfactant is used to catalyze the synthesis of the precursor of the same surfactant. This is a case of ‘surfactant catalyzes synthesis of surfactants’, making it a closed-loop manufacturing process.