Liquid Conditioning Composition With In-Container Perfume Macroemulsion Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing manufacturing processes for making perfumed liquid conditioning compositions are inefficient and lack the flexibility to produce customized products without requiring extensive cleaning and mixing steps, particularly when incorporating hydrophobic perfumes into aqueous conditioning products.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the direct addition of a water-in-oil macroemulsion perfume composition into a container, utilizing controlled flow rates and dynamic flow profiles to ensure stable mixing without external agitation, allowing for efficient production of perfumed liquid conditioning compositions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If perfume is added as a high internal phase oil-in-water emulsion with small droplet sizes, then the perfume can be incorporated into the base composition, but the emulsion does not disperse easily and sticks to container walls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the emulsion type from oil-in-water to water-in-oil macroemulsion, fundamentally altering the emulsion parameters. This inversion allows the perfume to be incorporated as larger droplets that disperse more easily in the aqueous base composition without sticking to container walls during the mix-in-container process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional emulsion structure by using a water-in-oil macroemulsion instead of the typical oil-in-water emulsion. This inversion reverses the phase structure, allowing the hydrophobic perfume to be delivered as water-containing droplets that are more compatible with the aqueous base composition and dispense more easily
2Reliability
If clean-out steps are performed between runs of different products in in-line mixing processes, then contamination is avoided, but production time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mixing operation from the in-line process and relocates it to the container level. By adding separate perfume and base composition streams directly to the container and relying on the container's own mixing capabilities, the system eliminates the need for pipeline clean-out steps between product changes, thereby maintaining contamination prevention while improving productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The container itself performs the mixing function by combining the perfume and base composition streams directly within it. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate mixing equipment and clean-out procedures, allowing rapid product changes without losing production time to cleaning operations
3Measurement precision
If flow rate and shear rate are reduced to control volumes added to the container, then precise dosing is achieved, but mixing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the product formulation into separate streams (perfume and base composition) that are added independently to the container. This segmentation allows precise control of each component's volume while the container's internal dynamics provide sufficient mixing, decoupling the precision dosing requirement from the mixing efficiency requirement
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
Enables stable incorporation of perfumes into liquid products at low shear rates, reducing production time and costs by eliminating the need for additional mixing steps and ensuring uniform distribution within the container.
Implementation Method 1
A process involving the direct addition of a water-in-oil macroemulsion perfume composition into a container
Implementation Method 2
utilizing controlled flow rates and dynamic flow profiles to ensure stable mixing without external agitation
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
Process for making a liquid conditioning composition, the process comprising the steps of: providing a container with an interior space having a volume of from about 100 mL to about 10 L; providing a first feedstock composition to the interior space of the container, wherein the first feedstock composition comprises an emulsion, the emulsion comprising perfume, an emulsifying agent, and water, wherein the weight ratio of the perfume to the emulsifying agent is at least 5:1; and providing a second feedstock composition to the interior space of the container, wherein the second feedstock composition comprises a quaternary ammonium alkyl compound, wherein providing the second feedstock composition occurs concurrently and/or subsequently to providing at least a portion of the first feedstock composition to the interior space of the container.