The world consumes approximately 20 billion litres of the various glycols each year, with about a fifth being used in North America. Demand for glycol continues to rise alongside increasing production of plastic based products and automobiles - especially in China.

As with all mass produced chemicals, commercial viability is increasingly subject to huge economies of scale and for this reason all small or older production plants are being shut-down. The last glycol production facility in the UK was at Wilton, Teesside and this ceased production in January 2010. All glycol used in the UK is now imported from Continental Europe, the USA and Middle East.

The main types of glycol used as a base for heat transfer fluid formulations are;

Propylene Glycol is available in two different forms; 1,2 Propanediol which is derived from crude oil and 1,3 Propanediol which is increasingly derived from vegetable feedstock.

DTX: Performance of Ethylene Glycol, Non-Toxicity of Propylene Glycol

In 2010, Hydratech developed a range of non-toxic heat transfer fluids that are based on ethylene glycol, blended with a detoxification additive. The DTX range of products deliver the thermal efficiency and low viscosity associated to ethylene glycol, with the non-toxic rating of propylene glycol.