Vitech’s Q-range is an excellent assortment of powerful and highly effective degreasers, specially developed to target key areas in the HI&I industry.
In this post we’ll cover Vitech’s five different degreasers available, discussing their benefits, applications and performance to give you an insight into each product’s capabilities and to help you decide on the most appropriate degreaser for your specific formulation.
Link 706
Link 706 is a readily biodegradable surfactant system that delivers low Dynamic Surface Tension (DST), which is essential for quicker and optimum cleaning. It dilutes clear, making the product easy to rinse. It contains no alkyl or nonyl phenols, reduces or eliminates VOCs and offers good aquatic toxicity, allowing you to meet the standards for producing ‘green’ cleaners. Using Link 706 in your formulations also gives you the ability to formulate at similar or lower cost than traditional NPE/Glycol Ether systems and is usually the only surfactant required.
In addition, it provides a low odour blend suitable for high temperature applications, and it provides superior penetration and removal of oily or greasy particulate soils, giving it the ability to clean areas where agitation is restricted.
Link 706 is a highly versatile ingredient that can be used across a huge variety of applications and formulations across the HI&I industry. Our technical experts will gladly discuss your formulation requirements in more detail to see if this incredibly adaptable ingredient is the right one for you.
eQi
eQi is a highly economical surfactant with superior degreasing performance and has been specifically developed to have great efficacy against oily, bituminous and carbonaceous soils, making it particularly effective for oven cleaning or car care formulations where these types of soils are more prevalent. It comes in a clear, water white to light amber liquid, is stable in acid, alkali and peroxide and is highly electrolyte tolerant.
eQi provides outstanding performance at high dilutions, and its ultra-high performance with less chemistry offers improved sustainability. In addition, this novel ingredient is readily biodegradable, is listed on DfE CleanGredients and gives formulators the ability to formulate without solvents or VOCs.
Its applications are again quite varied, including – but not limited to – oil and gas industry degreasers, industrial heavy duty cleaners, household and retail cleaners, and BBQ and grill cleaners.
iQLF
iQLF is an exceptional low foamer that works at reduced temperatures and alkalinity, and is great in CIP systems which are used in compact spaces such as pipes (like beer pipes or milk pumps) where any foam can pressurise the pipes and potentially fracture them. It provides superior wetting and detergency – even compared to moderate or high foaming surfactants!
The ingredient is fully stable in acids, alkali and peroxide-based systems, and no hydrotrope is required in acidic formulations. For high electrolyte systems, it couples well with JK-50. It also offers good CMC for higher dilution cleaning.
iQLF is readily biodegradable, VOC exempt and is non-corrosive under GHS. It is also certifiable under most Green Certification programmes and can be used in applications such as parts washers, floor cleaning, high pressure cleaning and degreasing, metal working cleaners and industrial cleaners.
LFQ
Similar to iQLF, LFQ is another low foamer that provides powerful detergency and wetting capabilities and is especially great in CIP systems. It’s a highly versatile ingredient that comes in a clear, straw liquid, is alkaline tolerant and peroxide stable, and is capable of replacing a wide variety of low foam surfactants. In fact, it has the potential to reduce alkalinity whilst maintaining performance. In addition, the lower cleaning temperature required can help formulators reduce energy costs.
LFQ is also readily biodegradable, VOC free and offers excellent aquatic toxicity. It can be used in applications such as floor and carpet cleaners, CIP cleaners, cabinet/parts washers, metal working and peroxide cleaners.
QHD
QHD is a cost-effective and powerful surfactant system for heavy duty degreasing. It has the ability to rapidly clean heavy oils and greases, even at low concentrations, and is exceptional for RTU applications. Some of its applications include the oil and gas industry, engine and machine cleaners, laundry pre-treaters and household or retail cleaners, and it is applicable to hard and soft surface cleaning.
It comes in a colourless to light amber liquid with a mild odour, and can be used as a primary surfactant or as a companion to other surfactants like eQi or Q3. It’s highly sustainable, readily biodegradable and can replace many VOC-based cleaners.
Formulating with Vitech’s Q-range
Vitech’s Q-range is really diverse and versatile, and its ingredients can be used across a wide variety of applications and formulations within the HI&I sector. We recommend that you get in touch with our technical team for further information about each of the grades and your specific requirements, so that we can work with you to create the perfect formulation. Simply fill out the contact form below and a member of our team will be in touch.
