Tackling global climate change from Scotland
This year we are celebrating 40 years in business and what a journey we’ve had. Established in 1984, we have been working with global giants such as Shell, ExxonMobil, PetroChina and BP, and manufacturing our truly innovative online cleaning products from our plant in Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Robert Moffatt (right) and Ron Semple (left), co-founders of Therma Chem.
With climate change being a worry for most of the large blue-chip companies, Therma-Chem’s leading product, FS12, has been recognised globally to reduce emissions through improving boiler efficiencies. The management team is made up of Ron Semple as CEO at the helm, alongside co-founder and President Robert Moffatt, with Ron’s 3 sons David, Andy and Steven and Robert’s son Robert and son-in-law, Gerry O’Rourke.
Initially designed to target small industrial coal-fired boilers, FS12s outstanding results soon caught the attention of the major refiners. The company started their initial testing phase with BP Grangemouth Refinery in 1985 where they successfully trialled the product on their oil-fired boilers. Following on from the success of that pilot, Therma-Chem expanded across the UK and Europe, working with BP, Esso, and Shell and eventually entered the North American market in 2001 via Shell Montreal.
A major milestone for the business was the utilisation of their technology in a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Joint Implementation (JI) agreement between the Danish and Romanian governments to reduce carbon emissions on Romanian coal-fired boilers. Over a 4-year period, Therma-Chem’s technology reduced CO2 emissions by 10.14%. As an approved methodology for reducing carbon emissions, their products were also used successfully in a UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism project in Saudi Arabia on their oil-fired boilers.
Over the last 20 years, Therma-Chem has become a truly global company by expanding into Asia and opening distribution hubs in Malaysia and Japan in 2011 and 2016 respectively. They have a strong network of distribution partners who are essential to the continued success of the business. More recently Therma-Chem has expanded into the EfW (Energy for Waste) and biomass sectors, which will be key parts of the energy portfolio as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. Projects are currently underway in South Korea and Thailand which have generated significant benefits for their clients.
The business has some key events planned for 2024 to celebrate their 40th year anniversary. One of these events includes a global conference planned for Q3 2024 in Thailand, bringing together their network of agents and distributors to explore new innovations and opportunities for the sector.
“The last 40 years have provided Robert and I with great joy as we have grown and internationalised our business. We have always known that our products are the right solutions for power plants and refineries as they need to ensure availability, maximise efficiencies and reduce costs all while trying to reduce their carbon footprint.
As a business, we are passionate about finding ways to help lessen the impacts of climate change around the world and our products play an important part in doing just that – all while providing a high return-on-investment! We will continue to evolve our chemicals to ensure they meet the needs of our customers and help them meet their net zero targets in the years ahead.”
Ron Semple
