Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks Industry Research: the global market size is projected to reach USD 549 million by 2031

Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks Market Summary

PAG polymers, first discovered over 150 years ago, achieved groundbreaking application during World War II. At the time, fires on U.S. Navy ships and aircraft were attributed to the use of mineral oil-based hydraulic fluids. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (USNRL) began researching and developing hydraulic fluids with superior fire-resistant properties compared to the mineral oil-based fluids then in use.

USNRL, in collaboration with Union Carbide Chemicals, Plastics, and Mellon Industrial Research, developed the first water glycol-thickened, PAG-thickened fire-resistant hydraulic fluid (WGHF). The use of WGHF surged with the publication of the Luxembourg Report in 1961, outlining minimum standards for fire protection in European coal mine hydraulic fluids. The use of PAG-based fluids and lubricants expanded to other applications, initially into quenchants and textile lubricants, and then into many other lubricant categories, including waterless fire-resistant fluids, gear, compressor, and turbine lubricants. Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stockss are synthetic polymers made by polymerizing the monomers ethylene oxide (EO), propylene oxide (PO), and butylene oxide (BO), either individually or in combination as homopolymers, to form a growing chain from a nucleophilic starter molecule (usually an alcohol). PAG lubricant basestocks can be designed to be water-soluble, water-insoluble (with partial mineral oil compatibility), or oil-soluble, depending on the choice of starter molecules and monomers used to produce the polymer. The higher the EO monomer content in the base, the more water-soluble it is; the higher the PO monomer content, the more water-insoluble it is; and the higher the BO monomer content, the more oil-soluble it is. This process creates a polymer backbone in which oxygen is present every third atom, which gives PAG basestocks their unique chemical properties and allows formulators to synthesize a variety of starter and monomer combinations (blocky, random, and homopolymers) to create custom basestock types for specific applications.

According to the new market research report “Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks – Global Market Share and Ranking, Overall Sales and Demand Forecast 2026-2032”, published by QYResearch, the global Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks market size is projected to reach USD 549 million by 2031, at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period.

Figure00001. Global Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks Market Size (US$ Million), 2019-2031

Polyalkylene Glycol (PAG) Base Stocks