What is Lignex?

Lignex 101
Lignex is a sodium lignosulphonate offered in liquid form to customers who have a supply chin and product handling system designed for liquids. The product is despatched in road tankers and flexitanks.

Lignex 201
Lignex is a dry product, available in 25kg bags as well as big bags.

How is Lignex produced?

Lignex is produced from wood. Lignin, a major component of wood, is one of the most abundant natural organic polymers. Lignex is a sulphonated technical lignin, which is derived from the pulping process when wood is separated into its main components.

How does Lignex work?

Lignex acts as a surfactant and binder to ensure that unsealed (gravel) roads remain stable and dust-free.

Lignex works through these different actions:

Surfactant - Lowers the surface tension between liquid and solid particles, acting as a wetting agent and effectively suppressing the tendency of fines to become airborne.

 


Polymeric binder - Acts as a natural glue to bind the fines and aggregates together, and the polymer traps moisture which retards evaporation.

 


Dispersant - Ensures effective dispersion of clay particles in a matrix of fines, resulting in improved plasticity at lower moisture levels, and denser and firmer compaction of road surfaces.

 

How surfactants work

Surface tension, which describes a fluid's surface elasticity, makes a liquid shape itself to the smallest surface area possible - a sphere, the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio. The surfactant action of Lignex reduces surface tension as illustrated below.

Learn more about the benefits of using Lignex.
Lignex is used in a variety of industries and applications in the mining sector, agricultural sector, fruit orchards and packhouses as well as the forestry sector.