Two-Phase Hair Conditioner Manufacturing Process
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Solution Overview
Problem
Two-phase hair treatment products with an upper emulsion phase and a lower water phase face stability issues at low temperatures, leading to undesirable clouding or breakage of the emulsion, and existing emulsifiers do not adequately address these problems, affecting the re-formation of distinct phases after mixing.
Innovation Solution
A process involving heating a water phase to 70-95°C, homogenizing it with an oil phase containing an emulsifier, cooling, and adding further ingredients, which results in a stable two-phase system with a common horizontal phase boundary, ensuring the emulsion remains stable down to -20°C and improves appearance by slowing particle aggregation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If special emulsifiers are used to increase stability, then stability at low temperatures is improved, but the re-formation of two phases after mixing is negatively influenced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter during processing (heating to 70-95°C during homogenization, then cooling to 20-30°C for filling) to achieve both stable emulsion formation and proper phase separation. This temperature cycling resolves the contradiction by using heat to create a stable homogeneous emulsion that later separates cleanly at room temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary homogenization at elevated temperature before filling, creating a pre-stabilized emulsion structure that maintains integrity during storage and transport at low temperatures, yet allows easy phase separation upon cooling and brief mixing.
2Ease of manufacture
If two phases are filled separately at room temperature, then the process is simple, but stability at low temperatures is not satisfactory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces temperature as a critical process parameter, heating the mixture to 70-95°C during homogenization to ensure complete mixing and emulsion stability, then cooling to 20-30°C for filling. This temperature control resolves the contradiction by creating a thermally-stabilized emulsion that remains stable at low temperatures despite the added process step.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary heating and homogenization before filling to create a pre-stabilized emulsion. This preliminary thermal treatment ensures the emulsion structure is robust enough to withstand low-temperature storage conditions, resolving the stability issue while maintaining a relatively simple single-step filling process.
3Stability of the object's composition
If emulsion phase and water phase are mixed, then homogeneous mixture is achieved, but phases take exceptionally long time to separate or may not appear at all
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses temperature cycling to control phase behavior: heating to 70-95°C creates a stable homogeneous emulsion, then cooling to 20-30°C promotes rapid phase separation. This temperature parameter change resolves the contradiction by ensuring complete mixing during heating while enabling quick separation upon cooling, avoiding both incomplete mixing and excessively long separation times.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic temperature changes (heating phase followed by cooling phase) to control the emulsion state. The heating phase ensures homogeneous mixing, while the cooling phase triggers rapid separation. This periodic thermal action resolves the contradiction by using temperature cycles to achieve both complete mixing and rapid separation.
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 enhances the stability and appearance of the two-phase hair treatment composition, maintaining stability and clarity under extreme temperature fluctuations without additional emulsifiers, and allows for quick and easy mixing and application.
Implementation Method 1
heating the water phase to a temperature of from about 70 to about 95° C.
Implementation Method 2
Homogenizing the mixture from step b)
Implementation Method 3
Cooling the emulsion resulting from step c)
Implementation Method 4
Providing an oil phase (Ib) comprising at least one oil and at least one emulsifier
Data Source
AI summary
A process is described for the preparation of a hair treatment composition, which comprises the following process steps:a) Providing a water phase (Ia) comprising water and optionally other components and heating the water phase to a temperature of from about 70 to about 95° C.,b) Providing an oil phase (Ib) comprising at least one oil and at least one emulsifier, and adding the oil phase to the heated water phase from step a),c) Homogenize the mixture from step b),d) Cooling the emulsion resulting from step c) to a temperature of from about 35 to about 45° C. and optionally adding further active ingredients,e) Filling of the emulsion resulting from step d) into preferably transparent containers, whereby in the resting state after from about 10 to about 90 minutes a separation into a water phase (II) and an emulsion phase (IIb) occurs.