Company Profile: Quaker Chemical - Wind Systems Magazine

For the past eight decades this company has been producing industrial fluids and compounds used in virtually every imaginable manufacturing operation.

It began in 1918 as a small company producing industrial compounds for surrounding machine shops and textile manufacturers in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, just northwest of Philadelphia. Quaker Chemical has since expanded into a global entity, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and with a business presence and production facilities in every major manufacturing country including China, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and The Netherlands, among others. Hardly a day passes when you don’t benefit from an item made using Quaker products.

“No matter what kind of car you drive, for instance, certain components were manufactured using our products,” according to Peter Skoog, technical manager for fluid power products. “In fact, our QUAKEROL hot mill lubricant is used in the vast majority of rolled steel operations.”

Skoog’s responsibilities include acting as a liaison between industry and the company’s R&D labs, developing formulations to meet customer requirements. When end users have questions about hydraulic fluids, gear oils, fire-resistant fluids, or gearbox lubricants, he is the go-to guy. “And that means I will go to see them and observe their manufacturing operation so that I can provide solutions,” he says. “From concept to disposal, I’m part of the process and available to answer any technical questions our customers may have. I’m also here to make sure that new products developed in our laboratories make a clean transition to our commercial groups.”

As for the company’s structure, it operates in three broad divisions—primary metals, metalworking, and fluid power—which focus on myriad markets including aerospace, automotive, bearings, coatings and construction materials, heavy duty equipment, tube and pipe, marine, and mining. For companies manufacturing wind components, Quaker Chemical offers products for a wide variety of applications such as QUAKERDRAW® metalforming/drawing lubricant, QUAKERCUT® cutting oils and honing and lapping fluids, QUAKERCOOL® and QUAKERAL® machining and grinding coolants, and others such as FERROCOTE® corrosion preventive and QUAKERCLEAN® metal cleaner. It also has a synthetic lubricant developed especially for filling gearboxes, protecting against micropitting and providing extended service life over standard formulations. Beyond manufacturing the company has developed the STA CRETE® and STA-NATURAL® coatings for concrete—ideal for wind tower foundations—and the SS1500 abrasion resistant 0-VOC epoxy coating, which can be used to protect blades and other parts of the structure such as the hub and nacelle.

Known for being heavily involved in research activities, Quaker partners with OEMs and others in developing products for new—and sometimes experimental—applications, such as power storage systems for off-peak periods of low or no wind. “And that’s one of the things I enjoy most about my job,” Skoog says, “having the opportunity to be involved in new and developing technologies. It’s exciting to work with people who have a big idea and the entrepreneurial spirit to bring it into reality.”

More than merely a supplier, Quaker Chemical is a knowledge-based company with information and service resources on which its customers can rely. Committed to continuous improvement, all of its production facilities are ISO 9001 certified, and some are also ISO 14001 certified for environmental management and rated by accredited companies such as Lloyd’s, the British Standards Institute (BSI), and Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

“Having spent more than 90 years working in just about every basic-process manufacturing industry you can name, we’ve acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise,” Skoog says, “and we make all of it available to our customers. That’s especially true of the wind industry, which we look forward to supporting in the coming years as it continues its growth throughout North America and around the world.”

To learn more:
Call (610) 832-4000, e-mail info@quakerchem.com, or go online to www.quakerchem.com.