Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D10/00—Compositions of detergents, not provided for by one single preceding group
  • C11D10/04—Compositions of detergents, not provided for by one single preceding group based on mixtures of surface-active non-soap compounds and soap
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D9/00—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap
  • C11D9/04—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap containing compounding ingredients other than soaps
  • C11D9/06—Inorganic compounds
  • C11D9/08—Water-soluble compounds
  • C11D9/10—Salts
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D9/00—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap
  • C11D9/04—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap containing compounding ingredients other than soaps
  • C11D9/06—Inorganic compounds
  • C11D9/08—Water-soluble compounds
  • C11D9/10—Salts
  • C11D9/12—Carbonates
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D9/00—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap
  • C11D9/04—Compositions of detergents based essentially on soap containing compounding ingredients other than soaps
  • C11D9/22—Organic compounds, e.g. vitamins
  • C11D9/26—Organic compounds, e.g. vitamins containing oxygen
  • C11D9/267—Organic compounds, e.g. vitamins containing oxygen containing free fatty acids
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/02—Anionic compounds
  • C11D1/12—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof
  • C11D1/14—Sulfonic acids or sulfuric acid esters; Salts thereof derived from aliphatic hydrocarbons or mono-alcohols
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D1/00—Detergent compositions based essentially on surface-active compounds; Use of these compounds as a detergent
  • C11D1/66—Non-ionic compounds
  • C11D1/72—Ethers of polyoxyalkylene glycols

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a novel, particulate laundry detergent composition which contains no, or reduced levels of inorganic phosphate compounds. Furthermore, it relates to a particulate base material suitable for use in such detergent compositions and to a method of manufacturing this particulate base material.
• Conventional laundry detergent compositions contain phosphate compounds, especially sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), as building agents. Owing to the negative effects of phosphates on the environment, there has been an increasing interest in developing new laundry detergent compositions which have a low or zero phosphate content. However, it has proved to be difficult to match the excellent builder properties of the phosphate-containing compositions.
• STP sodium tripolyphosphate
• zeolites As builder in zero-P laundry detergent formulations.
• the application of zeolites in laundry detergent formulations has a number of drawbacks.
• zeolites In the first place, zeolites have a tendency to cause a bad powder structure. Further more, they tend to interact with silicates which are usually present in the composition as anti-corrosion agents, and they can cause dispensing problems in the washing machine and incrustation on the washed fabrics.
• compositions of the invention utilise acid soap both as a powder base and as a builder:
• the composition according to the invention comprises as a first particulate material a fatty acid mixture in which up to 35 mole% may be unsaturated fatty acids, which mixture has been neutralised to an extent of 25-60 mole %, and as a second particulate material a base in an amount sufficient to render the pH of the composition at a 0.5 wt% concentration in water higher than 8.
• detergent additives may be present, such as a bleach system, proteolytic enzymes, anti-foaming agents, optical brighteners, perfumes, anti-corrosion additives, etc.
• the composition according to the invention exhibits very satisfactory wash performance without the need for phosphate or zeolite builders, although the presence of low levels of these materials is not prohibited and may be beneficial. Powder properties such as flow and compressibility are also excellent.
• the particulate laundry detergent composition according to the invention preferably contains 30-80 wt.% of granular acid soap particles.
• the acid soap is a mixture of free fatty acids and soap, or a partially neutralized mixture of fatty acids.
• a wide range of saturated and/or unsaturated fatty acids may be used, but it was found that the powder properties of the particulate composition become less favourable at a content of unsaturated fatty acids of more than 35 mole%. More specifically, such powders tend to be sticky and are barely free-flowing.
• the mixture of fatty acid consists essentially of 5 - 20 mole% C16-C18 unsaturated fatty acids, and 95 - 80 mole% of a mixture of C8-C14 saturated fatty acids and C16-C18 saturated fatty acids in a ratio of 3:1-1:2.
• C8-C14 saturated fatty acids will also be referred to as laurics
• C14-C16 saturated fatty acids as stearics
• C16-C18 unsaturated fatty acids as oleics.
• the C16-C18 saturated fatty acids or stearics are mainly responsible for the builder properties, while they contribute little to detergency.
• the C16-C18 unsaturated fatty acids or oleics are important for their builder properties but especially for detergency.
• the C8-C14 saturated fatty acids or laurics contribute both to the building and to the detergency, but their main function is to facilitate processing of the soap/fatty acid mixture, and to ensure adequate dissolution properties.
• the laundry detergent compositions according to the present invention can be prepared by dry-mixing the various ingredients into a suitable mixture.
• the acid soap is used in the form of a particulate material, for example, prills or noodles.
• Particle size and shape may be chosen at will and are discussed in more detail below.
• These acid soap particles can be prepared by dissolving a suitable amount of soap in a mixture of fatty acid in the molten state, followed by solidification and processing of the solid mass. Alternatively, they can be prepared by partial in situ saponification or neutralization of a mixture of fatty acids. In this process, a solid base material is gradually admixed with the molten fatty acid mixture.
• Suitable basic compounds are, for example, soda ash (sodium carbonate), sodium disilicate or metasilicate, or sodium hydroxide.
• the operating temperature required to process these mixtures increases with the fatty acid chain length and degree of neutralization, and is preferably within the range of 70-140 C.
• the detergent composition of the present invention contains a particulate base in an amount sufficient to render the pH of the composition, at a 0.5 wt.% concentration in water, higher than 8.
• a base material in principle any base can be used which can be prepared in a particulate form and which readily dissolves in water without forming precipitates with the soap fatty acid particles.
• the same base is used as for the partial neutralization of the fatty acid mixture.
• the laundry detergent composition according to the invention may additionally contain other detergent compounds, such as anionic and/or nonionic non-soap detergent-active compounds. These may be incorporated in the particulate acid soap base, or present as a separate ingredient.
• the acid soap particles may contain up to 10% by weight of anionic and/or nonionic surfactant: higher levels can be detrimental to powder properties.
• anionic or nonionic surfactants may be carried on a porous inorganic material which is admixed with the acid soap particles.
• An example of such an adjunct is a liquid ethoxylated C13-C15 alcohol sprayed on to a Burkeite carrier. If the inorganic carrier is a basic material, the adjunct may serve as the basic component (second particulate material) of the composition.
• a particularly preferred method of preparing acid soap particles was found to be spray-cooling. It was found thereby that particles or prills are obtained with excellent properties with regard to the dissolution rate, stability and to wash performance of the complete detergent composition.
• prills of any desired size and bulk density can be obtained by manipulation of the process conditions. Prills of average particle size 250-1000 m and buk density 400-750 g/e are preferred for compatibility with the other solid ingredients of the compsition, so that segregation in the pack is minimised.
• soaps as well as fatty acids may form various eutectic complexes; such complexes may also be formed between soaps and fatty acids, resulting in highly' complicated phase diagrams for such mixtures.
• This aspect is particularly relevant to the question of meeting the 35-40 ° C target for the solidification temperature.
• the relative amounts of laurics and stearics should not exceed a 1:1 ratio; nevertheless, some liquefaction at the eutectic temperature of about 33 C cannot be avoided.
• the presence of some low melting laurics/stearics complex may be expected to have a favourable effect on the low temperature solubility.
• a number of fatty acid mixtures were prepared, having the compositions shown in Table A. The mixtures were then heated and at approximately 65. C they began to melt. Heating was continued and after complete melting at a temperature of about 80 C soda ash (sodium carbonate) was gradually added in an amount of 0.1 kg/min to control the C02-evolution until the desired degree of neutralization had been reached. At the same time, the temperature was gradually raised to approximately 140 ⁇ C.
• soda ash sodium carbonate
• the solubility was measured as follows: The rate of dissolution of the soap/fatty acid noodles was determined by monitoring the increase in conductivity resulting from dissolution of the soap part of the noodles. In this method, 3 g/I of the sample is added to 1 I demineralized water at 25 . C with continuous stirring, using a magnetic stirrer. The rate of dissolution is expressed as the time required to dissolve 50% of the soluble part of the soap/fatty acid blend (t1 ⁇ 2) . The maximum conductivity is measured after heating to above the melting temperature of the fatty acids, followed by cooling down to ambient temperature.
• Examples 1-3 were repeated, but instead the molten acid/soap mixtures were spray-cooled in a spray tower to form prills.
• the spray-cooling conditions are shown in Table B.
• the powder properties of the prills obtained are given in Table C.
• a mixture of fatty acids was prepared, having thefollowing composition :
• Example 7 The procedure of Example 7 was repeated, using a fatty acid mixture of the following composition :
• the acid soap prills obtained according to Example 7 were used to formulate a complete laundry detergent composition by dry-mixing various other ingredients to the prills, such as a nonionic detergent on a Burkeite carrier, a bleach system and an enzyme.
• composition of the complete detergent powder is given in Table E. Also shown are two commercially available laundry detergent compositions, composition B being a low-P and composition A a zero P composition, both based on zeolites.
• the wash performance of these three compositions was established in a Zanussi ZF 822W top loading drum washing machine, using the normal 40* C cotton cycleprogramme "C".
• 2.5 kg clean mixed wash load of clean cotton pieces and standard soiled test cloths was processed at a liquor/cloth ratio of approximately 6.
• the water temperature was 20 ° C at a pressure of 2.0 kg/cm2.
• the water hardness was 9 or 25 GH.
• the wash powder was added in a dosage of 7.5 g/I. The differences in reflectance of the test clothes before and after the wash ( R * 460) were recorded.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Emergency Medicine (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)

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• 1988
  • 1988-02-12 GB GB888803263A patent/GB8803263D0/en active Pending
• 1989
  • 1989-02-02 DE DE1989615015 patent/DE68915015T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1989-02-02 EP EP19890200221 patent/EP0328190B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1989-02-02 ES ES89200221T patent/ES2051983T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1989-02-10 JP JP1032558A patent/JPH0668120B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime

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