Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces – auxiliary compositions – Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing – Liquid composition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-06
2002-11-26
Webb, Gregory (Department: 1751)
Cleaning compositions for solid surfaces, auxiliary compositions
Cleaning compositions or processes of preparing
Liquid composition
C510S365000, C510S424000, C510S506000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06486115
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a composition useful for cleaning, and optionally deodorizing, both light and oily grease and heavy and tarry asphaltenic deposits. This invention particularly relates to an oil-in-water microemulsion composition useful for cleaning, and optionally deodorizing, both light and oily grease and heavy and tarry asphaltenic deposits.
2. Background of the Invention
Many industrial and commercial process cleaning compositions or formulations include chlorine and/or fluorine containing compounds. While such compositions are very effective in cleaning oil, grease, heavy tars and other deposits from the surface of various materials, these halogen-containing compounds are believed to have long lasting adverse impact on the environment. In addition, some of these compounds may also pose health and safety concerns to those handling them.
Certain organic solvents have also been used in industrial and commercial process cleaning compositions. Typically the solvents are ketones, esters or aromatics. They are generally effective, however quite a large quantity is required and inevitably vapors of these organic compounds may escape to cause environment, health and safety related problems. In addition, these solvents tend to have low flash points.
A commonly encountered situation in the petroleum or refining industry is the presence of odorous materials together with many heavy, tarry or asphaltenic deposits from the reservoir or in the processing equipment or in a storage/transporting facility. Typically the odors are caused by hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans. .Most of the existing cleaning compositions are ineffective in deodorizing or otherwise mitigating this problem.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and advantageous to have a composition or formulation which is effective in cleaning all kinds of oils, grease, tars, asphaltenic deposits and mixtures thereof. It would also be desirable and advantageous to have a composition or formulation which, at the same time, has a relatively high flash point, is environmentally friendly, and has low organic contents. It is desirable to use naturally occurring and/or biodegradable materials in the composition. It is preferable to use a water-based composition. In addition, it is also desirable to have a composition that can deodorize as well as clean. It is even more desirable that use of such a deodorizing composition can result in minimal waste.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an oil-in-water microemulsion composition for cleaning. The composition comprises a cyclic organic solvent; an ether of an oligomeric glycol; a monoether of a monomeric glycol; a derivative of an alkyl aromatic sulfonic acid; and water, wherein the amount of water is in the range of from about 20% to about 99.9%, by weight, of the composition.
It is another object of the present invention to produce a cleaning and deodorizing composition comprising a cyclic organic solvent; an ether of an oligomeric glycol; a monoether of a monomeric glycol; a derivative of an alkyl aromatic sulfonic acid; a deodorizing additive; and water.
It is a further object of the present invention to use the disclosed compositions to clean light and oily grease as well as heavy tarry asphaltenic deposits, with the option of removing or reducing odors caused primarily by sulfur containing compounds such as H
2
S or mercaptans.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a composition that is useful for cleaning, and optionally, deodorizing light oily grease or heavy tarry asphaltenic deposits. It is preferred to have the composition in an oil-in-water microemulsion state to allow more effective use of the organic components in the composition.
The composition comprises a cyclic organic solvent, an ether of an oligomeric glycol, a monoether of a monomeric glycol, a derivative of an alkyl aromatic sulfonic acid and water. When a deodorizing property is desired in the composition, a deodorizing additive in an effective amount may be added to the composition to impart such a property.
The deodorizing additive may be used in a “one-pack” formulation or the deodorizing additive can be kept separate as a second “pack” until a proper time before use, i.e. forming a “two-pack” system. It is also contemplated that the deodorizing additive may be applied simultaneously with the rest of the composition to the surface to be cleaned. A “two-pack” may be preferred for certain situations. One such situation is that deodorizing is not needed at all times. A two-pack system would use the deodorizing additive only when needed. This can reduce both wastes and costs. Another situation is where there is a long-term compatibility problem between the deodorizing additive and the rest of the ingredients of the composition. A two-pack system can minimize the problem and increase the shelf-life of the final product.
The compositions of the present invention may be used to clean and/or to deodorize grease or asphaltenic deposits, on surfaces of a variety of materials such as metal, fabric, plastic (polymers), concrete, and others. It is common to use the compositions to clean storage tanks, pipelines, reactors, equipment, and the like, at ambient conditions or under other suitable conditions.
Many organic solvents can be used as part of different formulations for cleaning purposes. For this invention, cyclic organic solvents are preferred and used. Suitable cyclic organic solvents include, but are not limited to, various saturated and unsaturated monocyclic and bicyclic hydrocarbons such as monocyclic terpenes and bicyclic terpenes, oxygenated derivatives (alcohol/acid/epoxide/ester) of these hydrocarbons and mixtures thereof. Examples of these cyclic organic hydrocarbons include, but are not limited to, d-limonene, /-limonene, dipentene [138-86-3], various &agr; and &bgr;-pinene isomers and their mixtures (such as [2437-95-8 ]; [7785-26-4]; [7785-70-8]; [19902-08-0] and [18172-67-3]), various &agr; and &ggr;-terpinene isomers (such as [99-86-5] and [99-85-4]), various camphenes [5794-03-6] and [5794-04-7], carenes [554-61 -0] and [13466-78-9] and mixtures thereof.
Certain derivatives of these materials are also within the embodiment of the present invention. Examples include terpinen-4-ol [562-74-3], &agr;-terpineol [10482-56-1] and their mixtures. It is further noted that acyclic terpenes and their mixtures may also be used. Examples are myrcene [123-35-3] and 2,6-dimethyl-2,4,6-octatriene. All of the numbers in brackets represent the CAS (Chemical Abstracts Services) numbers for identification purposes. These compounds, their mixtures and many of their derivatives may be obtained from companies like Aldrich Chemical Company and other chemical suppliers.
These organic solvents may be manufactured or they may exist as natural products or mixtures. Some of the solvents are biodegradable. It is preferred to use biodegradable organic solvents to avoid accumulation in or adverse impact on the environment. Biodegradable organic solvents tend to cause fewer post-use contamination problems, thus they are more environmentally friendly. It is more preferred to use a solvent, which consists essentially of d-limonene.
A suitable ether of an oligomeric glycol has one of the following structures, with one or both of the OH groups in an ether form:
wherein R
a
, R
b
, R
c
, R
d
, R
e
, R
f
, R
g
, R
h
, R
i
, and R
j
, are independently selected from H or a C
1
to C
6
linear or branched alkyl groups, but R
a
and R
j
cannot both be H in the same molecule. If one of R
a
and R
j
is H in the molecule, it is a monoalkyl ether of the oligomeric glycol. If both of R
a
and R
j
are H in the same molecule, it is a dialkyl ether of the oligomeric glycol. Collectively, they are designated as the ethers of the oligomeric glycols. The symbol
Kremer Lawrence N.
Weaver Carl E.
Baker Hughes Incorporated
Madan Mossman & Sriram P.C.
Webb Gregory
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