Anionic Surfactant Cleaner for Metal Oxide Soil Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Metal oxide soils, such as titanium dioxide, accumulate on equipment surfaces in industries like dairy and pharmaceuticals, causing soiling issues that are difficult to remove with conventional cleaning methods, leading to operational inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A composition comprising an anionic surfactant and a pH adjuster at an acidic pH is applied to surfaces to effectively remove metal oxide soils, utilizing a carrier and rinsing process to achieve cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cleaning products (e.g., EVAP-O-KLEEN with nitric acid and phosphoric acid) are used to remove metal oxide soils, then cleaning effectiveness is achieved, but device complexity and cost increase due to multiple components and disassembly requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and isolates the essential active components from complex conventional cleaning formulations, creating a simplified composition that uses only an anionic surfactant and pH adjuster. This extraction principle reduces device complexity while maintaining cleaning effectiveness by removing unnecessary components from the cleaning system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical parameters of the cleaning composition by using anionic surfactants with specific HLB values (10-40) and controlling pH levels. These parameter changes enable effective metal oxide removal with a simpler formulation, reducing the need for multiple cleaning agents and complex system configurations.
2Reliability
If manual cleaning methods are used in pharmaceutical industry, then complete soil removal is achieved, but time consumption and labor costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables self-service cleaning through CIP (clean-in-place) technology, where the simplified cleaning composition is applied directly to equipment surfaces and automatically rinsed. This eliminates the need for manual disassembly and cleaning operations, achieving complete soil removal while significantly reducing cleaning time and labor requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces manual mechanical cleaning operations with an automated chemical cleaning system. The anionic surfactant-based composition chemically dissolves metal oxide soils, substituting the need for manual scrubbing and disassembly operations, thereby reducing time loss while maintaining cleaning thoroughness.
3Illumination intensity
If titanium dioxide is added to low fat dairy products to whiten them, then product appearance improves, but metal oxide soil buildup on equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the harmful effect of titanium dioxide soil buildup into a beneficial cleaning opportunity. The anionic surfactant-based cleaning composition is specifically designed to target and remove metal oxide soils, transforming the soiling problem into a demonstration of the cleaning system's effectiveness. The same titanium dioxide that improves product appearance becomes the test case for the cleaning composition's performance.
4Reliability
If heating is applied during pasteurization to kill bacteria, then food safety is improved, but metal oxide soil deposition on equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by using the simplified cleaning composition during or after the pasteurization process to immediately address metal oxide soil deposition. The anionic surfactant-based cleaner is designed to work effectively at the temperatures and conditions present during pasteurization, preventing soil buildup before it becomes problematic rather than requiring separate post-processing cleaning steps.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly improves the removal of metal oxide soils from various surfaces, reducing the time and cost associated with cleaning processes while maintaining equipment integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The compositions include an anionic surfactant and a pH adjuster at an acidic pH
Implementation Method 2
a pH adjuster at an acidic pH
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to methods and compositions for removing metal oxide soils from surfaces. The compositions include an anionic surfactant and a pH adjuster at an acidic pH. In one embodiment, the invention relates to a method of removing a metal oxide soil from a surface by (1) applying a use composition to the surface, the use composition having a pH adjuster in an amount sufficient to provide a use pH at or below 7, an anionic surfactant in an amount to remove a portion of the metal oxide soil, and a carrier, (2) removing the metal oxide soil from the surface with the use composition, and (3) rinsing the surface to remove the use composition and the metal oxide soil.