As a new-type foreign trade service provider driven by both technology transformation and foreign trade services, HiSiaddi has established a "1+2+3+4=1" service system and can supply original factory sources of CMIT/MIT isothiazolinone from multiple well-known brands.
As a R&D-oriented foreign trade enterprise, HiSiaddi has collaborated with factories on technology transformation and accurately captured market demands for many times, frequently proposing formula optimization schemes and application improvement suggestions for CMIT/MIT isothiazolinone. Below is a consulting case of formula optimization for CMIT/MIT isothiazolinone by HiSiaddi.
If you need more formula optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
HiSiaddi delivered a full set of technical solutions covering raw material modification, downstream formula fine-tuning and workshop feeding process optimization, securing an annual long-term procurement agreement of 176 tons.
QuimicaSol is located in Barcelona, Spain, with 26 years of R&D and manufacturing experience in high-end water-based industrial paints, fully synthetic metal cutting fluids and closed industrial circulating water chemicals for the Iberian Peninsula. Its downstream end partners include local Spanish automotive coating factories, major paper groups and thermal power groups in Madrid. All products strictly comply with EU REACH, BPR biocide regulations and local Spanish environmental control standards, with finished product formulas filed with the Spanish Environmental Agency. Main additive ratios are fixed, prohibiting large-scale modification of the client’s own product formulas. Physical and chemical indicators of raw materials are directly linked to finished product environmental impact assessment and shelf-life testing. The enterprise has long imported original CMIT/MIT biocide from Solvay, UK. Driven by surging European chemical raw material prices and tightened production capacity of overseas factories, procurement costs rose by 35% and sea transportation lead time extended to 92 days. In 2025, it launched a domestic raw material substitution project, planning to purchase a total of 176 tons of CMIT/MIT throughout the year, divided into three major categories: 78 tons for automotive OEM paint anticorrosion, 56 tons for high-end fully synthetic cutting fluids, and 42 tons for closed low-temperature circulating water chemicals.
The client initially independently contacted two established domestic isothiazolinone manufacturers and purchased the common domestic salt-containing 14% CMIT/MIT (fixed national standard CMIT:MIT ratio of 3:1, magnesium chloride stabilizer, pure water solvent). After the first batch of 40 tons of goods was put into production, mass production abnormalities occurred simultaneously on three compounding production lines. The suppliers only issued national standard factory inspection reports, insisting that products complied with industry standard HG/T3657 and attributing product defects to the client’s own formula and processes, lacking R&D capabilities for downstream formula applications and unable to provide technical rectification schemes. A large batch of semi-finished products of the client were scrapped, and production lines were forced to operate under reduced load. The client urgently terminated the original cooperation and fully entrusted HiSiaddi’s chemical foreign trade technical team with sample testing, fault investigation and delivery of full-dimensional technical optimization solutions. The client benchmarked Solvay’s original internal control standards: active component ratio error ≤±0.05, chloride-ion-free system, no crystallization after 72h storage at -10°C, no delamination of coating systems after 18 months of normal-temperature storage, and bacteriostatic retention rate ≥92% for cutting fluids in an alkaline environment of pH 9.0.
After adding domestic Kathon to the client’s acrylic automotive topcoat system, emulsion delamination occurred after 30 days of normal-temperature storage, with brown precipitates at the bottom of tanks. Accelerated storage at 50°C for 15 days led to loss of bacteriostatic activity, rendering nearly 7 tons of topcoat semi-finished products undeliverable to automotive manufacturers and directly causing order delay compensation. Traceability revealed that magnesium chloride inorganic salts in the product triggered salting-out reactions with anionic surfactants in coatings, destroying the colloidal stability of emulsions — the most common drawback of national standard salt-containing Kathon when applied to high-end coatings.
With the same addition ratio of 0.12% as Solvay’s original product, the pH of the client’s fully synthetic cutting fluid remained stable at 8.8~9.2. After 25 days of production, a large number of bacteria bred in the water body and products developed foul odors, with the bacteriostatic rate dropping by 60% compared with original imported products. General CMIT/MIT rapidly hydrolyzes and loses activity in alkaline environments with pH＞8.5. Domestic manufacturers only calibrate bacteriostatic data under neutral water conditions without optimizing stability for high-alkali cutting fluids.
The minimum temperature of storage tanks at the client’s northern Spanish plant can reach -9°C. White crystals precipitated after the barreled CMIT stock solution stood for 48 hours, frequently blocking filter screens of filling pipelines and causing intermittent shutdown of filling pipelines, failing to meet the continuous production requirements of closed circulating water. General products adopt pure water as carrier without low-temperature solubilizing additives, resulting in a high freezing point and easy precipitation of crystals under low-temperature working conditions.
Cooperating with a CNAS-certified third-party laboratory, HiSiaddi conducted full-component physical and chemical analysis of the domestic raw materials used by the client and Solvay’s original standard samples, clarifying that the root causes of failures lie in the formula design of domestic general Kathon targeting domestic low-end sewage treatment and low-cost daily chemical markets, only meeting the minimum national standard requirements without matching refined formula demands of mid-to-high-end Western European products:
1. Defective stabilizer selection: National standard products adopt inorganic magnesium chloride and magnesium nitrate stabilization systems with high chloride and magnesium ion content. Inorganic salts induce emulsion breaking and salting-out in coating systems and accelerate the cracking and deactivation of CMIT molecules in alkaline cutting fluids, serving as the core inducement for finished product delamination and failure.
2. Inflexible fixed active ratio: A single fixed 3:1 universal ratio fails to fine-tune CMIT and MIT proportions according to three different systems (coatings, cutting fluids, circulating water), unable to balance compatibility with different pH values and additive systems.
3. Single solvent system: Pure deionized water is used as carrier without polyol low-temperature modified solvents, leading to poor solubility at low temperatures and crystal precipitation under low-temperature storage conditions in northern regions.
4. Loose impurity control: High residual synthesis by-products, and trace reducing impurities consume active CMIT components, further shortening the finished product’s anticorrosion shelf life.
The R&D logic of domestic manufacturers focuses on low-threshold domestic sewage treatment procurement, where downstream clients have high formula tolerance and can cover raw material defects by increasing additive dosage. In contrast, mid-to-high-end Spanish clients are restricted by environmental filing regulations and cannot arbitrarily adjust their own formula ratios, requiring rectification only through raw material optimization.
1. Replace stabilization systems and eliminate inorganic salts: Cancel magnesium chloride stabilizers and adopt a mixed chelation stabilization system of propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol to produce salt-free modified products, completely eliminating salting-out and pipeline corrosion risks caused by chloride and magnesium ions.
2. Customize CMIT/MIT ratios by product category: 2.3:1 for automotive paints, 1.7:1 for cutting fluids, 3.6:1 for circulating water. Leverage online liquid chromatography to monitor monomer content and control ratio error within ±0.03 to adapt to the acid-base environments of three product types.
3. Modify solvents to optimize low-temperature performance: Mix 12%~18% food-grade polyol solubilizers into pure water systems to lower the product freezing point. The optimized product remains transparent without crystallization after 96h freezing at -12°C, exceeding the client’s usage requirement of -9°C.
4. Refine impurity removal: Add a vacuum filtration process at the end of synthesis to remove reducing process by-products and strictly control the content of harmful impurities to slow down the natural degradation rate of active substances.
On the basis of the client’s mature finalized formulas for coatings, cutting fluids and circulating water, only fine-tune the biocide addition amount and compatible auxiliary materials to avoid costs of filing formula changes with regulatory authorities:
1. Automotive OEM paints: Adjust Kathon addition amount from 0.10% to 0.092%, and add trace organic chelating agents to complex trace metal ions in the system and eliminate storage precipitation.
2. Fully synthetic cutting fluids: Maintain the 0.12% addition ratio unchanged, pre-dissolve CMIT/MIT with a small amount of propylene glycol before feeding to improve stability in strong alkaline systems and slow down active component decomposition.
3. Closed circulating water: Keep the 0.15% addition amount unchanged, and add a small amount of buffer additives to lock the system pH within a narrow range and avoid local acid-base imbalance inducing activity attenuation.
1. Control feeding temperature: Add CMIT/MIT only when the temperature of the production reactor is below 45°C, avoiding high-temperature working conditions that accelerate active component decomposition and eliminate early bacteriostatic attenuation caused by high-temperature feeding.
2. Add a pre-dissolution process: Set up an independent pre-mixing small reactor, pre-dilute the biocide with part of the formula solvent at normal temperature, stir evenly, then slowly add it to the main reactor to achieve uniform dispersion in the system.
3. Optimize storage: Install simple heat tracing coils on outdoor storage tanks in winter, and circulate and stir tank materials every 7 days to avoid local low-temperature crystallization blocking pipelines.
1. Sample Verification Stage: HiSiaddi shipped samples of three specifications to Barcelona, Spain. The client laboratory conducted 60-day accelerated storage and on-site working condition simulation tests. The modified CMIT/MIT fully matched Solvay’s original products in all physical, chemical and bacteriostatic indicators, with no delamination, crystallization or shelf-life non-compliance of three types of finished products under EU standards.
2. Mass Production of First Batch: The first batch of 38 tons of optimized products was shipped to Spain in three specifications. The client launched full production lines, and automotive paint, cutting fluid and circulating water products all passed Spanish environmental sampling inspection, completely resolving previous problems of semi-finished product scrapping and production line shutdowns.
3. Signing of Annual Framework Agreement: QuimicaSol gradually reduced its import share of Solvay products and signed a quarterly delivery agreement for a total annual volume of 176 tons with HiSiaddi. HiSiaddi took full control of customized raw material production, full factory inspection and export compliance documents, and the enterprise subsequently entrusted HiSiaddi with all technical selection for additional BIT and DCOIT procurement. Cost accounting showed that the comprehensive procurement cost of domestic optimized products decreased by 31.8% compared with Solvay’s original products, and ocean transportation cycle was shortened from 92 days to 39 days.
1. Obvious Differentiation of Industry Products: Most domestic CMIT/MIT manufacturers mass-produce national standard salt-containing general products targeting low-end sewage and low-cost daily chemical markets, only meeting the minimum national standard mandatory indicators without formula optimization capabilities for high-end Western European additive systems. Low-end purchasers can adapt to inferior raw materials by adjusting their own formulas, while mid-to-high-end Western European enterprises are restricted by environmental filing and finalized formulas. Minor raw material defects will trigger scrapping of full batches of finished products, creating rigid demand for customized raw materials and supporting technical services.
2. Core Technical Demands of Mid-to-High-End Clients: Raw material indicator customization, minimally invasive formula adjustment and implementable production process guidance, rejecting large-scale modification of their own mature formulas — this is also the core barrier for high-quality overseas clients cooperating with ordinary domestic manufacturers.
3. Differentiated Service Value of HiSiaddi: Break away from simple commodity trading, promote raw material formula modification at upstream manufacturers on one hand, and fine-tune downstream compatibility and production operations of clients relying on applied chemistry experience on the other hand, bridging technical blind spots between raw material synthesis and end application. Deeply bind high-quality mid-to-high-end European and American chemical clients through technical services.
If you need more formula optimization consulting services, please contact HiSiaddi customer service.
+86-13120989737 
info@hisiaddi.com 
English
