Brand Equivalent Polyacrylamide Grades
If you are buying FLOPAM, Zetag, Superfloc, Magnafloc or NALCO polyacrylamide through a regional distributor, there is a good chance the grade you need is a standard product type rather than a proprietary formulation. This page maps the brand grades our customers ask about most to the closest grade we manufacture, so you can start a comparison from a known reference point instead of a blank specification sheet.
Two things worth stating plainly. First, none of these are licensed or reverse-engineered copies — they are independently manufactured grades in the same chemistry family, and we say which published profile each one is positioned against. Second, molecular weight and charge density are published as descriptors rather than exact figures by every major supplier, ours included, because both vary within a production window. So a like-for-like table tells you where to start, not what your optimal dose will be. That comes from a jar test on your actual water or sludge, which is what the free trial sample is for.
Side-by-Side Comparison Pages
Each page carries a parameter-level comparison table, specifications and FAQs for one brand grade.
Zetag 8185 / 8187 Equivalent — High-Charge CPAM
Our high charge density cationic polyacrylamide positioned against the Zetag 8185 and 8187 grades for municipal and industrial sludge dewatering on belt press and centrifuge.
View DetailsApplication Solutions
View Product Details →
FLOPAM EM Series Equivalent — Cationic Polyacrylamide Emulsion
Cationic polyacrylamide emulsion positioned against the FLOPAM EM series for sludge dewatering, clarification and paper wet-end duties where dissolution time rules out powder.
View DetailsApplication Solutions
View Product Details →Brand Grade Coverage
Grades our customers most often ask us to match, and the product we position against each one.
SNF
| Brand Grade | Our Closest Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FLOPAM AN 910 | APAM High Molecular Weight | Direct substitute, same MW/hydrolysis range |
| FLOPAM AN 934 | APAM Medium Molecular Weight | Similar MW range for coal fines |
| FLOPAM FO 4490 | CPAM High Charge Density | Equivalent 40–50% cationicity for bio-sludge |
| FLOPAM FO 3230 | CPAM Medium Charge Density | Cationic powder grade for paper retention duty |
| FLOPAAM 3630S | PHPA Oilfield Grade | Industry reference EOR PHPA — comparable MW and hydrolysis range |
| FLOPAM AN 910 FG | PAM for Sugar & Starch Processing | Benchmark grade for buyer-led comparison |
Solenis (ex-BASF)
| Brand Grade | Our Closest Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zetag 8160 | CPAM High Charge Density | Published as medium-high charge / high MW cationic powder |
| Zetag 8180 | CPAM High Charge Density | Published as high charge / high MW cationic powder |
| Zetag 8125 | CPAM Medium Charge Density | Published as low charge / high MW cationic powder |
Kemira
| Brand Grade | Our Closest Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Superfloc A-110 | APAM High Molecular Weight | Comparable MW and charge |
| Superfloc C-492 | CPAM High Charge Density | Comparable charge density for municipal WWTP |
NALCO
| Brand Grade | Our Closest Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NALCO 8184 | APAM Medium Molecular Weight | Published as an anionic flocculant for mineral processing duty |
| NALCO 71303 | CPAM High Charge Density | Belt press application, similar dosage |
BASF
| Brand Grade | Our Closest Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Magnafloc E10 | PAM for Sugar & Starch Processing | Benchmark grade for sugar and process-water comparison |
How to Evaluate a Change of Supplier
- Record your current baseline. Note the grade, the dose rate in ppm or g/t, and the result you hold it to — supernatant turbidity, cake dryness, filtrate clarity, whichever governs your process. Without a baseline number no comparison can be settled.
- Request the matching trial grade. Tell us the brand and grade you run now. We send a free trial quantity of the grade we position against it, with the jar test protocol.
- Jar test side by side on your own stream. Run the incumbent and the trial grade on the same sample, same mixing energy, starting from your existing dose. Water chemistry and solids loading decide the optimum, so this step cannot be replaced by a datasheet.
- Trial on one line before committing. If the jar test matches, run a single line or a single batch in production. Full-scale mixing and residence time behave differently from a beaker.
- Then price it. Compare on cost per tonne treated, not cost per kilogram. A cheaper polymer at a higher dose is not cheaper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these licensed copies of the original brand products?
No. They are independently manufactured polyacrylamide grades. The base chemistry is the same family, and we position each grade against a published brand profile, but nothing here is a licensed or reverse-engineered copy. We state which of our grades is the closest match and recommend you confirm it with a jar test on your own stream.
How can you compare grades if suppliers do not publish exact figures?
Major suppliers publish descriptors — low / medium / high molecular weight and charge density — rather than exact numbers, because both properties vary within a production window. We follow the same convention and label whose scale a value comes from, so a comparison never implies more precision than either side actually publishes.
What is the safest way to change supplier without risking my process?
Run a jar test against your incumbent on your actual water or sludge, using your current dose rate as the baseline. We ship free trial quantities for this. Optimal dosage depends on water chemistry, solids loading and mixing energy, so we do not publish a conversion factor from one grade to another.
What documentation comes with a shipment?
A Technical Data Sheet, a batch-specific Certificate of Analysis, and an MSDS with every shipment. Trial samples include jar test protocol guidance.