Bio-Based Detergent Formulation for Eco-Friendly Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a demand for laundry detergent products that are more eco-friendly, with components based on renewable carbon, biodegradable, and having a low carbon footprint, while maintaining performance comparable to traditional detergents in cleaning, whiteness, color care, softness, and freshness.
Innovation Solution
The development of laundry detergent compositions that include renewable components, are biodegradable, and have a low carbon footprint, featuring a blend of surfactants, polymers, enzymes, and other ingredients, with packaging made from recycled materials, optimized for reduced carbon emissions through green energy use, efficient transportation, and compact formulations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If petroleum-based synthetic components are used in laundry detergent formulations, then cleaning performance and consumer acceptability are achieved, but environmental friendliness and biodegradability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by replacing petroleum-based synthetic surfactants with bio-based surfactants having specific HLB values (8-20), and adjusts the formulation to include specific ratios of bio-based enzymes (protease, amylase, lipase) and chelants to maintain cleaning effectiveness while improving biodegradability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite detergent formulation combining multiple bio-based components: bio-based anionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, enzymes, builders, chelants, and fragrances, where each component is selected and optimized to work synergistically to achieve both environmental friendliness and cleaning performance
2Object-affected harmful factors
If eco-friendly bio-based components are used to replace petroleum-based ingredients, then environmental friendliness improves, but formulation complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent simplifies the formulation process by establishing specific parameter ranges: bio-based surfactant HLB values of 8-20, enzyme concentrations of 0.1-10% w/w, and chelant levels of 0.1-5% w/w, which standardize the formulation and ease manufacturing while maintaining eco-friendly composition
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different bio-based components to specific functional requirements within the detergent system - for example, using proteases for protein stain removal, amylases for carbohydrate stains, lipases for fat stains, and specific chelants for water softening, optimizing each local function while maintaining overall formulation simplicity
3Loss of energy
If unit dose compact formulations are used, then transportation efficiency and packaging reduction are achieved, but dosing precision and dissolution reliability may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the physical parameters of unit dose packets including size, material thickness, and detergent concentration (0.5-5% w/w) to ensure reliable dissolution in typical washing machine water volumes while maintaining compactness for efficient transportation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses water-soluble packaging materials as an intermediary that facilitates controlled dissolution of the detergent content, ensuring that the unit dose packets dissolve reliably and completely in washing machines while maintaining their compact form for transportation efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
Laundry detergent compositions, water-soluble unit dose detergent products and methods of making each, are described. The laundry detergent compositions include renewable components, can be biodegradable, have a low carbon footprint and free of materials with a potential hazard concern, while still providing consumer acceptable performance. Packaging containing such laundry detergent compositions or water-soluble unit dose detergent products are also described.