US2423450A - Preparation of synthetic organic detergent particles having only slight dust-forming tendencies - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 8, 1947 PREPARATION OF SYNTHETIC ORGANIC DETERGENT PARTICLES HAVING ONLY SLIGHT DUST-FORNIING TENDENCIES Robert Franklin Heald, Nutley, and Minor Leslie 1- Givan, East Orange, N. 3., assignors to Colgate- Palmolive-Peet Company, Jersey City, N. 3., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Original application April 1'1, 1941,

Serial No. 388,989. Divided and this applicaf tion September 28, 1943, Serial No. 50%,160

4 Claims.

1 t The present invention relates to a process of treating synthetic detergents and, more particularly, to a processor preparing water-soluble non-fatty acid soap organic detergents, espe particles of a synthetic detergent having greatly reduced dust-forming tendencies.

The invention further provides beads and grains of synthetic detergents of the type of orcially those of the type of organic sulphates and 5 genie ulp ates a d sul t having high sulphonates, in sprayed, granulated and chip wasmng emciency and atlmosit only slight dustform to reduce dust therein, and to the product formmg tendencies' f such process. Other objects and advantages of the present spray dried detergents have been employed for invention will be apparent to those skilled in the both industrial and domestic uses for many years, art from the following description because of their relative ease of solution due to Broadly stated according to the present inventhe large surface area exposed Detergents in tron, the addition of a relatively small proportion chip and granulated form have Similarly been of a petroleum 011 fraction to a synthetic deterused for the ,same reason; Up to the advent of gent results in a composition having considerably the present invention there were attendant less tendency to form dust. Aremarkable feature advantages in the use of these materials which of the invention is that the addition of the oil considerably limited their employment. Because has httle or no effect upon the washing emclency' of their reduced size, there is always associated The incorporatior. of mineral on is particuwith the product an appreciable portion of fines, larly advantageous m the ufacture of spray which causes a dust nuisance. This dust is 0bgranulated and chip detergents of the type of jectionable both from the standpoint of cleanliorgan? sulpgateiapd g f g g ness and because it acts as an irritant upon the of ad mg t e 01 m ng e prove emucous membrane of the usen tergent beads and grains of the invention com- In seeking a method for eliminating these dispnses sp-mying the detergent m fluid liquid advantages, the prior art has suggested reducing or plastic) form into an air stream in a tower the proportion of fines. This was, at best an in a procedure commonly employed in the art expensive operation, and it was found, moreover, 3 g'g gg fg E that the removal of fines in any practical degree g a 0 mg c a er 1 e usua m e en spraying oil upon the detergent particles had little efiect upon the amount of dust raised during the cooling operation This method of in the use of these synthetic detergent particles. ti th mi 1 i1 1 1 This was due to the fact that the most troublei g 1 g? 2 y E as a so some or irritating dust is produced by the disin- 32 23 13 2.923? g g fi g ai 2: 2: 3 irsleagggfiign of ti}? coarser pariztmlles durmg no granulation Of a mechanical mixture of detergent m mg m a par mu any fi! 1e P 35 chips or flakes and dry builders. In general, in g sma Percentage but Very obJf'ctlonable the manufacture of synthetic detergent products 533 g i gfigiz g gg gfi g ii zfi i fi' other than mechanical mixes, the mineral oil may be added in bulk to the detergent material .0 it i more convenien us, t e a i ion of the known, has given a satisfactory solution upon a eral oil to the crutcher mix requires no greater i l? 21 2 b co t: i grz zfi invention to pro 5 it and, in general, also yields Satisac ory resu s. vide an improved process for treating synthetic The present process is applicable to the treatt t uring the manufacture of said dement of various water-soluble, non-fatty acid tergents in spr ye ranul t d nd hip f rm soap, organic detergents, such as the salts of to reduce dust therein, whereby detergent parorganic sulphates and sulphonates, with or withticles having grgatly reduced irritant efiect in out any of the builders or fillers usually employed use are pr uce by the art. A preferred roduct com rises the It is also an object of this invention to provide sodium salt of sulphated coconut oil ?atty acid a process for preparing detergents of the type monoglyceride as the active ingredient. Other of organic sulphates andsulphonates in particudetergents suitable for treatment include salts late form having only slight dust-forming tendof sulphonated and sulphated long-chain fatty encies. alcohols. Thus, mineral oil can be added in Another object of the invention is to provid any of the manners described to synthetic detertions.

gents containing the sulphuric esters of oleyl alcohol, of lauryl alcohol or of primary stearyl alcohol, salts thereof, including sodium lauryl sulphate or the like, etc., to produce our novel compositions and to achieve the desirable results pertaining thereto and herein described.

In selecting a. petroleum fraction for use in accordance with the invention, kerosene (astral 011), white mineral oil, and heavy mineral oils of various viscosities are especially suitable for reducing dust-forming tendencies when incorporated in the detergent. Of these, the higher fractions are somewhat more desirable in that smaller proportions of the oil can be used and that there is less odor. Specifications for suitable oils are as follows:

Kerosene A. P. I. gravity 46.0 Flash point F. 127 Initial boiling point F.. 350 Final dr p TL. 536

' White mineral oil Specific gravity, 15.6 0.845 to 0.855 Viscosity Saybolt, 100 F sec 80 to 90 Initial boiling point F 572 90% distilled at F 748 Residue per cent 10 Heaoy mineral oils N o. 1 No. 2 N0. 3

300 365 ass Initial boiling point, "n... 568 609 597 Final distillation point, F 754 737 711 Distilled, percent 95 80 40 Residue, percent 5 20 60 Still higher boiling fractions, having Saybolt viscosities of more than 600 seconds, give very satisfactory results. Q

It is advantageous to employ oils with flash points high enough to avoid fire hazards, especially where the oil is incorporated in the detergent before spraying, as the high temperature of the spraying tower must be taken into consideration. In selecting the mineral oil, the viscosity of the oil is not of great efiect, although slightly better results are obtained with oils of higher viscosity. This may be due, in part, to the fact that these oil in general represent higher frac- If the oil is too viscous, it is diflicult to handle and can therefore be inconvenient.

Using such oils as hereinbefore described, proportions of the mineral oil of about 0.5% to about 8.0% (on the basis of the finished product) reduce the dust-forming tendencies in synthetic detergent particles. When using oils of relatively high boiling fractions, about 0.5% to about 3.0% of oil is suitable, about 0.5% to about 1.5% of m.'.1- eral oils of this type being preferred. This proportion decreases dust to a minimum, without affecting the detergent properties and handleability of the product. It will be understood that larger proportions of mineral oil must be employed where lighter fractions are used, and, in some cases, even several per cent, e. g., as much as about 2.5% to about 8%, are preferred for reducing dust to the considerable degree desired. Below the optimum proportion of mineral oil, of the preferred type, the best results are not obtained, above this proportion, the treated particles exhibit a certain stickiness, which is undesirable from the standpoints of both the consumer and the packager, and the detergency value of the product is deleteriously affected.

The followin example is merely illustrative of the present invention, and it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.

Example About 0.65 part of a heavy mineral oil (mineral oil No. 3) is added to 99.35 parts of an organic detergent solution in a crutcher. The detergent solution has the following composition, the active 1 ingredient being the sodium salt of sulphated coconut oil fatty acid monoglyceride:

I'he materials are thoroughly mixed, and the mixture is passed to a spray tower for spraying in a usual manner.

Upon spray drying, about 59.2% of the crutched material is lost as moisture. The dried product gives the following analysis, the mineral oil showing up with any unreacted material:

Per cent Moisture About 1.0 Inorganic salts About 61.4 Active ingredient About 32.6 Unreacted (raw material) About 3.4 Mineral oil About 1.6

The results obtained according to the present invention are superior to those obtained by the prior art. Even where part of the fines in synthetic detergent particles has been removed by sizing, the dust raised with such material is much greater than with the oil-treated material of this invention.

The term particle used in the present specification and in the appended claims is intended to include sizes and shapes of material having at least one dimension of relatively low order, such as grains, beads, chips, flakes and other forms having proportionately large surface area. Similarly, the term particulate as applied to synthetic detergents is intended to include those forms having at least one small dimension. Particles having solid centres are usually referred to as grains, while hollow particles are generally known as beads. Grains and beads frequently occur together and are distinguishable from chips and flakes in that all of their dimensions are of relatively low order.

The present application is a division of our prior application Serial No. 388,989, filed April 17, 1941.

The present invention has been described with reference to illustrative examples and proportions, but it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other variations and modifications of our invention can be employed and that equivalents can be substituted therefor, without departing from the principles thereof.

We claim: 1. A process of preparing detergent particles which comprises forming particles of a synthetic organic non-soap water-soluble detergent of the class consisting of sulphates and sulphonates, and spraying said particles after formation with an initial boiling point about 0.5% to about 3% of a mineral oil fraction having an initial boiling point of about 350 F., said percentage being based upon the amount of mineral oil in the final product, whereby improved particles having only slight dust-forming tendencies are produced.

2. A process of preparing detergent particles which comprises spraying about 0.5% to 8% of a mineral oil fraction havin an initial boiling point of at least about 350 F. upon preformed particles of a synthetic organic non-soap watersoluble detergent of the class consisting of sulphates and sulphonates, said percentage being based on the amount of mineral oil in the final product, whereby particles having reduced dustforming tendencies are produced.

3. A process of preparing detergent particfes having only slight dust-forming tendencies which comprises mixing a mineral oil fraction having of at least about 350 F. with a synthetic organic non-soap water-soluble detergent of the class consisting of sulphates and sulphonates in fluid form, and then forming said mixture into particles, the amount of said oil being within the range of about 0.5% to 8% by weight of said particles.

4. A process of preparing detergent particles having only slight dust-forming tendencies which comprises mixing a mineral oil fraction having an initial boiling point of at least about 350 F. with a synthetic organic non-soap water-soluble detergent of the class consisting of sulphates and sulphonates, and then spray drying said mixture, the amount of said mineral oil being within the range of about 0.5% to 8% by weight of the spray dried product.

ROBERT FRANKLIN HEALD.

MINOR LESLIE GIVAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,715,999 Flammer et a1 June 4, 1929 2,016,289 McGill Oct. 8, 1935 2,206,289 McDaniel July 2, 1940 2,130,362 Muncle Sept. 20, 1938 1,886,632 Broeman Nov. 8, 1982 1,479,757 Trent Jan, 1, 1924 2,296,121 Smith Sept. 15, 1942 2,356,443 Bissinger Aug. 22, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 23,054 Great Britain 1894 447,521 Great Britain Dec. 28, 1937 OTHER REFERENCES Dyestuffs-Booklet of Allied Chem. 8: Dye

Com, N. Y., Sept. 1942, page 205.