Spray Dried Detergent Particle Silicate Salt Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spray-drying processes for laundry detergents face challenges in maintaining stability and free-flowing properties when detersive surfactant levels are reduced, leading to phase separation, inconsistent particle size, and pipeline blockages, especially with fillers like sodium sulphate or sodium chloride.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the formation of in-situ silicate and/or disilicate salts of alkaline earth metals by reacting alkali metal silicate with alkaline earth metal salts, combined with specific weight ratios of sodium carbonate and fillers, to create a stable aqueous slurry that is spray-dried to produce detergent particles with reduced surfactant levels while maintaining good powder properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If detersive surfactant levels are reduced in the slurry, then environmental impact and water consumption are improved, but slurry stability deteriorates causing phase separation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces fillers (sodium sulphate, sodium chloride, or sugar) as intermediary substances to replace part of the detersive surfactant's stabilizing function. These fillers act as mediators that maintain slurry homogeneity and prevent phase separation even at reduced surfactant levels, thereby enabling lower environmental impact while preserving slurry stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the compositional parameters of the slurry by reducing detersive surfactant content below 7 wt% and simultaneously adjusting filler content to 10-30 wt%. This parameter change transforms the system from one relying on high surfactant concentrations for stability to one using optimized filler-surfactant combinations, achieving both reduced environmental harm and maintained stability.
2Quantity of substance
If detersive surfactant levels are reduced, then chemical usage is decreased, but particle size consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Fillers serve as intermediary components that compensate for the reduced surfactant's ability to maintain uniform slurry properties during spray-drying. By optimizing filler content and selection, the patent ensures consistent droplet formation and evaporation rates, which produces uniform particle sizes even with lower chemical usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adjusts critical parameters including surfactant content (0.1-7 wt%), filler content (10-30 wt%), and their weight ratios to achieve optimal particle size consistency. These parameter changes enable manufacturing precision to be maintained while reducing overall chemical consumption in the formulation.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If detersive surfactant levels are reduced, then foam production is decreased, but slurry pumping stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs fillers as intermediary substances that maintain the slurry's rheological properties and pumping characteristics. These fillers help preserve appropriate viscosity and flow behavior, ensuring stable pumping operations and preventing pipeline blockages even when surfactant levels are reduced to minimize harmful foam generation.
4Stability of the object's composition
If filler content is increased to maintain slurry stability, then slurry homogeneity is improved, but reserve alkalinity increases causing harshness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the local quality principle by selectively choosing specific types of fillers (sodium sulphate, sodium chloride, or sugar) with different properties. This allows optimization of local characteristics - selecting fillers that provide slurry homogeneity without excessively increasing reserve alkalinity, thereby reducing harshness on hands while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates composite slurry formulations combining detersive surfactants with specific fillers in optimized ratios. This composite approach allows the system to achieve slurry homogeneity through the filler component while the surfactant component controls the alkalinity and harshness characteristics, balancing both requirements through material composition.
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 process results in spray-dried detergent particles with optimal carbonate builder levels, lower reserve alkalinity, and desired pH for effective cleaning performance, without harshness on hands or fabrics, while ensuring extended storage stability and free-flowing properties.
Implementation Method 1
contacting an alkaline earth metal salt with an alkali metal silicate salt in an aqueous mixture comprising a detersive surfactant, wherein the alkaline earth metal salt reacts with the alkali metal silicate salt to form in-situ silicate salt and/or disilicate salt of alkaline earth metal
Implementation Method 2
spray-drying said aqueous slurry to form said spray dried detergent particle
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a process for preparing of a particulate, free flowing detergent particle by a slurry making and spray drying technique. In particular it relates to the process for preparing a slurry with lower alkalinity for the production of spray dried laundry detergent particle. Thus, there is a need to provide a spray dried detergent particle which has lowered levels of the detersive surfactant without adversely affecting the free-flowing powder properties over extended storage life.It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a spray-dried particle prepared from a process comprising a stable, non-phase separating detergent slurry which upon spray drying provides for a spray-dried detergent particle having optimum levels of carbonate builder levels and silicate salt.The present inventors have found that a spray dried detergent particle having an in-situ formed silicate and/or a disilicate a salt of alkaline earth metal, by reacting an alkali metal silicate with an alkaline earth metal salt, along with an alkali metal silicate salt provides for excellent powder properties when the detersive surfactant content is lowered, it also provides extended shelf life without getting caked. It is also surprisingly found that the spray-dried particle provides desired pH in wash solution required for good stain removal performance without being harsh on the hands or the fabrics.