Method of producing granular surfactants

Details Method of producing granular surfactants Method of producing granular surfactants

1994-02-22

1996-05-14

Lieberman, Paul

Compositions

Dust suppressants for bulk materials, or processes of...

252104, 252135, 252174, 252531, 252550, 23313R, 23313FB, C11D 1100, C11D 1700

Patent

active

055164471

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a process for converting liquid to paste-like formulations of washing- and cleaning-active surfactant compounds into storable and dust-free granules of high apparent density.


STATEMENT OF RELATED ART

The economic synthesis of light-colored surfactant powders, more particularly anionic surfactants based on fatty alkyl sulfates ("FAS") and alkyl benzenesulfonates ("ABS"), is now established knowledge among experts. The corresponding surfactant salts are obtained as water-containing products having water contents in the range from about 20 to 80% by weight and, more particularly, around 35 to 60% by weight. Products of this type have a paste-like to cuttable consistency at room temperature, whereby the flowability and pumpability of such pastes is limited or lost at room temperature despite an active substance content of only about 50% by weight, so that considerable problems arise in the storage and subsequent processing of the pastes, particularly during their incorporation in mixtures, for example in detergents. Accordingly, there has long been a need to provide detergent-quality surfactants in a dry and, in particular, free-flowing form. Although free-flowing surfactant powders, for example free-flowing FAS powders, can actually be obtained by conventional drying, for example in a spray drying tower, serious limitations have been observed in this regard, jeopardizing above all the economy of using the powders thus obtained, particularly FAS powders, on an industrial scale. Spray-dried FAS powder, for example, has a very low apparent density, so that unprofitable circumstances prevail in the packaging and marketing of these powders or, alternatively, the powders have to be compacted by granulation to relatively heavy granules. However, even in the production of the so-called tower powders, safety considerations can necessitate such restricted operation of the spray drying process that practical difficulties arise. Thus, investigations into the safety aspects of tower powders based on FAS containing 20% by weight or more of active substance have shown that the spray drying of such formulations is possible to only a very limited extent and, for example, requires tower entry temperatures below 200.degree. C. Another disadvantage of spray drying lies in the fact caking can occur in the tower and lead to brown discoloration of the powder.
Comparable or other difficulties arise in the conversion of water-based, more particularly paste-like, formulations of many other washing- and cleaning-active surfactant compounds into storable solids. Further examples of anionic oleochemical surfactant compounds are the known sulfofatty acid methyl esters (fatty acid methyl ester sulfonates, "MES") which are produced by .alpha.-sulfonation of the methyl esters of fatty acids of vegetable or animal origin predominantly containing 10 to 20 carbon atoms in the fatty acid molecule and subsequent neutralization to water-soluble monosalts, more particularly the corresponding alkali metal salts. Ester cleavage thereof gives the corresponding sulfofatty acids or their disalts which have important washing and cleaning properties in the same way as mixtures of disalts and sulfofatty acid methyl ester monosalts. However, comparable problems also arise with other classes of surfactants when attempts are made to produce the corresponding surface-active raw materials in dry form, as is the case with cleaning-active alkyl glycoside compounds. To obtain fight-colored reaction products, their synthesis generally has to be following by bleaching, for example with aqueous hydrogen peroxide, so that in this case, too, modern technology leads to the aqueous paste form. Water-containing alkyl glycoside pastes (APG pastes) are more vulnerable, for example, to hydrolysis or microbial contamination than corresponding dry products. In their case, too, simple drying by known methods involves considerable difficulties. Finally, the drying of a water-containing paste of the alkali metal salts of washin

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