Case Study: NordicWater, a High-End Water Service Group from Finland, Faces Roadblocks in Custom Special Polyepoxysuccinic Acid (PESA) Procurement; HiSiaddi Cooperates with Factories on Molecular Modification to Complete Customization and Secure an Annual Long-Term Procurement Framework of 216 Tons
Headquartered in the Economic & Technological Development Zone of Helsinki, Finland, NordicWater is a leading local refined water treatment service provider in Northern Europe with 27 years of expertise in R&D and production of water treatment chemicals for seawater desalination RO membrane systems, geothermal power plant closed circulating water, and high-mineral-content groundwater treatment in Northern Europe. Its end-user projects cover 3 large-scale seawater desalination plants along the Baltic Sea coast of Finland, 4 geothermal power stations across Northern Europe, and ultrapure water projects for precision electronics factories in Finland. All chemical products comply with EU REACH, OECD biodegradation standards and Nordic NOM environmental control regulations, with all water treatment formulas filed with the Finnish Environment Ministry. Tenders for downstream projects impose rigid customized clauses on raw material indicators, molecular structures and impurity contents. Previously, the client long purchased original special modified PESA scale inhibitor from BASF.
Due to overhauls of local European chemical plants and surging raw material prices, BASF’s delivery cycle was extended to 90 days, with unit procurement price rising by 42%. In 2025, NordicWater launched a localized customization procurement project in China, planning to purchase a total of 216 tons of customized PESA for the whole year, divided into three application segments: 92 tons for seawater desalination RO systems, 74 tons for high-temperature geothermal circulating water, and 50 tons for compounding groundwater treatment chemicals.
The client previously independently contacted 3 domestic conventional PESA manufacturers, all supplying standard mass-produced PESA complying with national general standards (fixed molecular weight 1100~1300, conventional sodium type with 40% solid content). These products failed to meet customized parameters for the three working conditions of the client: seawater side required narrow molecular weight distribution products to inhibit silica scale; the 95℃ high-temperature working condition of geothermal systems demanded high thermal stability modified formulas; products for groundwater compounding needed low free monomers compatible with compounding systems. Domestic conventional manufacturers only mass-produced standard off-the-shelf products without R&D capacity for customized polymerization regulation and molecular modification, and refused to cooperate on small-batch formula debugging and indicator modification. Three batches of samples sent to Finnish laboratories all failed inspections: silica scale inhibition rate of RO system samples was less than 72%, chemical agents hydrolyzed and failed at 85℃ under high-temperature conditions, and excess free maleic acid in compounding-grade products led to incompatibility with other additives. The customization project stalled for 52 days. The client terminated cooperation with direct manufacturers and fully entrusted HiSiaddi to coordinate the whole process including customized R&D, sample optimization and mass production delivery.
Seawater in the Baltic Sea of Northern Europe features high calcium, high magnesium and high silicate ion content. Conventional PESA only delivers excellent inhibition against calcium carbonate yet weak silica scale suppression. Client customization requirements: number-average molecular weight controlled at 850±50, molecular weight distribution index PDI ≤ 1.35, solid content 45±1%, by-product glyoxylic acid ≤ 0.15%. Standard domestic PESA has a wide molecular weight range (700~1500), general PDI of 1.8~2.4 and glyoxylic acid content ≥ 0.5%. After dosing, silicate precipitates on the concentrated water side of RO membranes, shortening membrane cleaning cycles to 45 days, which fails to meet project tender standards.
Geothermal systems operate continuously at 88~96℃ with pH 9.5~10.2. Under high-temperature environments, molecular chains of general sodium-type PESA break, resulting in over 30% attenuation of scale inhibition performance. Client customization requirements: hydroxyl-modified acid-form PESA bulk (not fully sodium salt), scale inhibition attenuation less than 4% after 168h constant temperature storage at 95℃, and synchronized improved corrosion inhibition performance compatible with carbon steel pipelines. Domestic mass manufacturers only produce finished sodium-type products without synthetic processes for acid-form products and lack technical reserves for hydroxyl graft modification.
The client needs to compound PESA with polyaspartic acid and AMPS to produce finished scale inhibitors. Conventional PESA contains excessive residual free monomers, leading to stratification and turbidity after 30 days of compound storage. Customized indicators: free epoxy succinic acid monomer ≤ 0.2%, low chroma (APHA ≤ 60), free of trace organic halogen impurities to meet access standards for drinking water supporting chemicals in Northern Europe. General commercial products usually have monomer content exceeding 0.8%, resulting in poor compound compatibility.
Relying on leading refined PESA production bases in China (Shandong Taihe, Jiangsu Environmental New Materials Research Institute), HiSiaddi broke away from mass production thinking of manufacturers and implemented targeted customization in three phases based on Finnish water quality data and working condition parameters provided by the client, with three-level verification covering lab test, pilot test and mass production.
1. Narrow-distribution PESA for Seawater RO Systems: Coordinate manufacturers to adopt microchannel continuous polymerization processes, precisely lock the average molecular weight at 850 by online ultrafiltration interception to control molecular chain length, narrowing PDI from conventional 1.9 to 1.32. Optimize hydrogen peroxide feeding ratio in the epoxidation stage to reduce by-product glyoxylic acid from 0.52% to 0.13%, and lift solid content to 44.8%, fully matching client indicators. Supporting CNAS third-party silica scale inhibition testing was conducted simultaneously, achieving calcium carbonate inhibition rate ≥98.3% and magnesium silicate inhibition rate ≥91.5%, solving the problem of RO membrane silica clogging.
2. Hydroxyl-Modified Acid-Form PESA for High-Temperature Geothermal Systems: Introduce hydroxyl side chain modification on the main chain of original PESA, adjust neutralization degree and abandon full sodium salt processes to produce partially neutralized acid-form products. Optimize the polymerization catalyst system to improve thermal stability of molecular bonds. Actual measurement shows scale inhibition efficiency attenuation of only 3.2% after 7 days constant temperature storage at 95℃, with additional carbon steel corrosion inhibition function to adapt to high-temperature and high-alkali closed circulating geothermal environments, filling the gap in domestic mass production capacity.
3. High-Purity Low-Monomer PESA for Chemical Compounding: Add a vacuum monomer removal section at the post-synthesis stage to strip residual free monomers, controlling monomer content at 0.18%. Optimize decolorization and refining procedures to achieve product chroma APHA 52 with no organic halogen by-products. When compounded with the client’s existing polyaspartic acid and AMPS additives, the mixture remains free of stratification, flocculation and precipitation after 90 days of normal temperature storage, matching the client’s groundwater chemical compounding production line.
HiSiaddi delivered customized samples in 3 batches (25kg samples per specification), accompanied by Chinese-English COA quality inspection certificates, OECD301 biodegradation test reports and REACH component specifications:
· First batch of preliminary samples: Basic process adjustment to correct minor deviations in molecular weight;
· Second batch of optimized samples: Improve modification ratio and refining processes;
· Third batch of finalized samples: All three product categories passed full-item testing by Finnish third-party laboratories, with scale inhibition, thermal stability, compound compatibility and environmental indicators fully accepted by NordicWater R&D Center.
As all three customized grades deviate from national standard general products and cannot share existing mass production lines, HiSiaddi coordinated manufacturers to split three dedicated small production lines for staggered production, avoiding production schedules for general PESA. Orders were split according to client delivery rhythm: the first trial mass production batch totaled 36 tons (15t RO grade +13t geothermal grade +8t compounding grade), and the remaining 180 tons were produced in four quarterly batches as required.
1. Smooth customs clearance and delivery of the first order: HiSiaddi prepared EU-compliant SDS, CLP labels and domestic hazardous goods customs declaration documents for customized products. The 36-ton first batch was loaded into full containers at Shanghai Port and cleared customs without obstacles, shipped via Hamburg to Helsinki, Finland, with zero customs inspection and no objections to environmental compliance at the destination country. After on-site application by the client, RO membrane cleaning cycles for seawater desalination were extended from the original 45 days to 192 days, scaling rate of geothermal units decreased by 87%, and finished compound chemicals successfully passed access testing for drinking water chemicals in Finland. The client officially confirmed fixed formulas for long-term use.
2. Phased performance of the full-year 216-ton order: Remaining batches were delivered quarterly in line with construction progress of Northern European projects, and the full 216 tons of customized PESA was delivered on schedule for the whole year. Compared with original BASF procurement, the client’s procurement cost dropped by 35.7%, and overall chemical agent usage cost decreased by 19%.
3. Renewal and expanded product cooperation: In the following year, NordicWater renewed the annual long-term agreement for 320 tons of customized PESA, and fully entrusted HiSiaddi with exclusive agency for customized procurement and formula optimization of polyaspartic acid, organic phosphonate series scale inhibitors from China. Based on the successful delivery of this customization project, HiSiaddi became the sole customized raw material service provider for this Northern European water service group in China.
1. General Industry Pain Points: Most domestic PESA manufacturers focus on mass production of standard general products for municipal sewage and low-end circulating water, with low R&D investment and refusal of small-batch modification and customization. Low-end purchasers only focus on unit price and can be satisfied with general products. Mid-to-high-end water treatment enterprises in Northern and Western Europe follow strict environmental and project standards, requiring customized PESA with adjustable molecular weight, molecular modification and targeted impurity control. Single manufacturers lack capacity for cross-regional working condition R&D and customized delivery services.
2. Core Service Value of HiSiaddi: Connect working condition data of overseas clients with refined chemical R&D resources in China, coordinate process modification, staged sampling testing and flexible production scheduling in the middle, bridging the two-way information gap between manufacturers unfamiliar with overseas customized indicators and clients lacking understanding of domestic chemical customization capacity. Bind high-quality mid-to-high-end overseas clients through customized technical services.
3. Mid-to-High-End Procurement Logic: Leading European and American water treatment enterprises prioritize customized performance matching project working conditions over price, and can accept sample testing cycles and small-batch trial production. Capability to deliver customized formula solutions is the key to securing large annual framework orders.
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