JPH07268397A - Production of granular nonionic detergent composition - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for producing a granular nonionic detergent composition capable of readily carrying out granulation control. CONSTITUTION:This method for producing a granular nonionic detergent composition comprises dissolving (e) 0.1-10wt.% of a high-melting point surfactant having >=35 deg.C melting point into 10-70wt.% of a nonionic surfactant being liquid or paste at <35 deg.C, stirring them and the resultant mixture is stirred with (b) 5-55wt.% of crystalline aluminosilicate, (c) >=0.2wt.% and <5wt.% of porous inorganic oxide powder and (d) <75wt.% pf sodium carbonate to granulate the mixture to provide detergent particles.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a granular detergent composition containing a nonionic surfactant as a main component, which is easy to control granulation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Nonionic surfactants generally have a low foaming property, their detergency is hardly affected by the hardness of water, and they are particularly excellent in dirt dispersibility and stain dispersibility at low temperatures. Furthermore, it is an excellent surfactant with good biodegradability, low environmental load, low toxicity and no safety problem. Examples of the method for producing a granular detergent containing a nonionic surfactant as a main component include, for example, JP-A-52-101121 and JP-A-62-2632.
Various methods have been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 99, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-159898, and the like. However, nonionic surfactants are generally liquid at room temperature, and there is a problem that granulation control is not easy when manufactured by stirring granulation.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for producing a granular nonionic detergent composition, which has improved granulation control during stirring granulation, which has been difficult in the past.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a result of intensive studies on this problem, as a result of stirring granulation of nonionic surfactant, aluminosilicate, porous oxide powder and sodium carbonate to produce detergent particles, The present invention has been completed by discovering that granulation control can be facilitated by previously mixing a high-melting-point surfactant with a nonionic surfactant and performing granulation with stirring.

That is, in the method for producing the granular nonionic detergent composition of the present invention, the following components (a) to (e) are used in the following amounts, respectively: (a) a liquid or pasty nonionic interface below 35 ° C. Activator: 10 to 70% by weight (b) Crystalline aluminosilicate: 5 to 50% by weight (c) Porous inorganic oxide powder: 0.2% by weight or more and less than 5% by weight (d) Sodium carbonate: 75 Less than wt% (e) High melting point surfactant having a melting point of 35 ° C. or higher: 0.1 to 1
0 wt% (a) Nonionic surfactant (e) High melting point surfactant is dissolved and mixed, and the resulting mixture is mixed with (b) crystalline aluminosilicate (c) porous inorganic oxide powder And (d) sodium carbonate is stirred and granulated to form detergent particles.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Examples of the (a) nonionic surfactant used in the present invention include the following.

(1) Carbon number 6 to 22, preferably 8 to 1
A polyoxyalkylene alkyl (or alkenyl) ether obtained by adding an alkylene oxide having 2 to 4 carbon atoms to an aliphatic alcohol of 8 on average in an amount of 3 to 30 mol, preferably 7 to 20 mol. Among these, polyoxyethylene alkyl (or alkenyl) ether and polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene alkyl (or alkenyl) ether are preferable.

(2) Polyoxyethylene alkyl (or alkenyl) phenyl ether (3) General formula (I) of the following chemical formula 1 in which alkylene oxide is added between ester bonds of long-chain fatty acid alkyl ester
Fatty acid alkyl ester alkoxylate

[0009]

Embedded image R ₁ CO (OA) nOR ₂ (I) (R ₁ CO: C 6-22, preferably 8-18 fatty acid residue OA: 2-4 carbon atoms such as OCH ₂ CH ₂ ; Preferably 2
Addition unit of alkylene oxide of 3 n: Shows the average number of moles of addition of alkylene oxide, 3 to
30, preferably a number of 7 to 20 R ₂ : a lower alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms)

(4) Polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester (5) Polyoxyethylene sorbit fatty acid ester (6) Polyoxyethylene fatty acid ester (7) Polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oil (8) Glycerin fatty acid ester

Among the above nonionic surfactants, polyoxyethylene alkyl (or alkenyl) ethers,
A fatty acid methyl ester ethoxylate obtained by adding ethylene oxide to a fatty acid methyl ester is particularly preferably used.

The nonionic surfactant as the component (a) is 35
It is liquid or pasty below ℃. The nonionic surfactant as the component (a) is 10 to 70% by weight, preferably 1
It is mixed in an amount of 0 to 60% by weight and stirred and granulated. If this amount is less than 10% by weight, the excellent cleaning properties of the nonionic surfactant cannot be utilized, while 70% by weight
If it exceeds, the adhesion inside the agitation granulator will remarkably increase, making granulation difficult.

As the crystalline aluminosilicate as the component (b), synthetic zeolite having an average particle size of 0.1 to 10 μm is preferably used. The crystalline aluminosilicate as the component (b) is blended in an amount of 5 to 50% by weight, preferably 20 to 40% by weight and stirred and granulated. If the blending amount is less than 5% by weight, the granulated product becomes lumpy or becomes pasty and cannot be granulated. On the other hand, if it exceeds 50% by weight, the granulating time is prolonged and the production capacity is lowered.

As the porous inorganic oxide powder as the component (c), one having a SiO ₂ content of 50% by weight or more is suitable, and amorphous silica (trade name: TOKUSIL (Tokuyama Soda),
Aerosil (Japan Aerosil), crystalline calcium silicate (trade name: Florite (Tokuyama Soda)), crystalline magnesium silicate (trade name: Wollastonite (Hayashi Kasei))
And so on.

The porous inorganic oxide powder as the component (c) is blended in an amount of 0.2% by weight or more and less than 5% by weight, preferably 1 to 4% by weight, of the detergent composition of the present invention, and the mixture is stirred to form a powder. Be grained. If the blending amount is less than 0.2% by weight, the granulated product becomes lumpy or pasty, and granulation becomes impossible.
If it is more than 10% by weight, the dust generation of the product will be deteriorated, and problems such as "muse" will occur during use.

As the sodium carbonate as the component (d), heavy sodium carbonate having a high bulk density (trade name: granular ash (Asahi Kasei)), light sodium carbonate having a low bulk density (trade name: light ash (Asahi Kasei)), etc. There is. The component (d), sodium carbonate, is added during stirring granulation so that it is contained in the detergent composition of the present invention in an amount of less than 75% by weight. This compounded amount is 7
When it is 5% by weight or more, the granulation time becomes long and the production capacity is lowered. The component (d) sodium carbonate is preferably added in an amount of 10 to 60% by weight.

The high melting point surfactant of the component (e) includes
Those having a melting point of 35 ° C. or higher, preferably 45 ° C. or higher are used. The melting point is preferably 100 ° C or lower, more preferably 90 ° C or lower.

Specific examples of such a high melting point surfactant include a sulfonate of a fatty acid lower alkyl ester (α
-Sulfo fatty acid ester salt), α-olefin sulfonate, soap, di-long chain alkyl type quaternary ammonium salt, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, and the like.

The high melting point surfactant as the component (e) is 0.1
It is blended in an amount of 10 to 10% by weight, preferably 0.5 to 5% by weight, and granulated by stirring. If the blending amount is less than 0.1% by weight, the effect of improving the granulation property cannot be sufficiently obtained, while 10
If it exceeds 5% by weight, the granulation time is prolonged and the production capacity is lowered.

In the granular nonionic detergent composition of the present invention,
The following components that are usually blended in the detergent raw material can be blended, and these may be blended at the time of stirring granulation, or may be powder-mixed with the detergent particles obtained by granulation.

(1) Inorganic alkali builder: potassium carbonate, sodium sulfite, sodium silicate, etc. (2) Fluorescent agent: bis (triazinylamino) stilbenedisulfonic acid derivative, bis (sulfostyryl) biphenyl salt [Tinopearl CBS], etc. (3) Enzyme: lipase, protease, cellulase, amylase, etc. (4) Bleach: Percarbonate such as sodium percarbonate, perborate, etc. (5) Surface modifier: bentonite, kaolinite, etc.

Next, a concrete stirring and granulating step will be described. In the present invention, prior to the stirring granulation, the high melting point surfactant of the component (e) is mixed and dissolved in the nonionic surfactant of the component (a). Then, a crystalline aluminosilicate of the component (b), a porous inorganic oxide powder of the component (c), and sodium carbonate of the component (d) or other optional components, which are powder raw materials of the essential components, are agitated. Granular detergent particles with a mean particle size of 300 to 3000 μm are obtained.

Specifically, the powder raw material is put into a stirring granulator, and while stirring, a nonionic surfactant in which a high melting point surfactant is dissolved is added by spraying or the like to carry out stirring granulation.
Furthermore, a fluidity improver can be added to the detergent particles obtained by stirring granulation to improve the fluidity characteristics.

As the fluidity improver, an inorganic powder having a JIS 200 mesh sieve passing amount of 50% or more is suitable. Examples of the material include carbonates such as sodium carbonate and calcium carbonate, amorphous silica, and the like. Calcium silicate,
A silicate such as magnesium silicate and an aluminosilicate such as zeolite are used.

The flow improver is added to the composition of the present invention in an amount of 0.
The amount used is preferably 5 to 15% by weight, more preferably 1 to 10% by weight. Furthermore, if desired, other optional components such as an enzyme can be externally added by powder mixing.

[0026]

According to the present invention, a high-melting-point surfactant is dissolved and mixed in a nonionic surfactant, and then this mixture, a crystalline aluminosilicate, a porous inorganic oxide powder and sodium carbonate are stirred and produced. By granulating, it becomes easy to control granulation when producing the granular nonionic detergent composition.

[0027]

EXAMPLES In the examples, each sample was evaluated by the following test methods. [Evaluation of Granulation] A sample in the middle of granulation was observed, and if the time required for granulation was too short, granulation control was difficult, and if it was too long, the production capacity was poor. ◯: Time to reach average particle size of 400 μm is 1 minute to 2
0 minutes ×: The time to reach the average particle size of 400 μm is less than 1 minute or more than 20 minutes, or the whole is pasty or violently lumped immediately after the addition of the nonionic surfactant to make granulation impossible.

Examples 1 to 5 The powder raw materials shown in Table 1 (total amount of 8 liters), that is, fine zeolite, amorphous silica and sodium carbonate were added to a Ledige mixer (M20 type manufactured by Matsuzaka Giken Co., Ltd.). Charge the main shaft (200 rpm) and chopper (6000r)
pm) was started. Then, the whole amount of the high-melting-point surfactant dissolved in the nonionic surfactant having the composition shown in Table 1 was added in 1 minute, and the mixture was stirred and granulated until the average particle size became 400 μm to obtain detergent particles. The granular nonionic detergent composition of the present invention was manufactured by adding 5% by weight of finely divided zeolite as a fluidity improver. The granulation property at the time of production was evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Examples 1 and 2 A powder raw material (total amount: 8 liters) and a high melting point surfactant in the composition shown in Table 1 were mixed with a Loedige mixer (M, Matsusaka Giken Co.
-20 type) and the stirring of the main shaft (200 rpm) and the chopper (6000 rpm) was started. Then, Table 1
The whole amount of the nonionic surfactant having the composition of was added in 1 minute. Granulation was performed to an average particle size of 400 μm, and 5% of fine particle zeolite was added as a fluidity improver to obtain a granular nonionic detergent composition of the present invention. The granulation property was evaluated, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Examples 3 and 4 The compositions shown in Table 1 were evaluated in the same manner as in the Examples. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0031]

[Table 1]Table 1: Detergent composition and evaluation results Example Comparative example 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 Composition (% by weight): (a) Nonionic surfactant AE nonion-1 20 25 25 − − 30 25 25 − AE nonion − 2 − − − − 20 − − − − 20 FME nonion − − − 35 − − − − − − (b) Fine zeolite 25 25 25 41 27 2 25 25 37 (c) Amorphous silica 4 2 4 2 3 4 2 4 3 (d) Sodium carbonate 37 33 29 8 31 48 32 18 36 (e) High melting point interface Activator High melting point activator-1 2 − − − − − − − 0.05 High melting point activator-2 − 3 − 1 − − 4 − − High melting point activator − 3 − − 4 − − − − 15 − High melting point activator Agent-4 − − − − 5 3 − − − Water / impurity balance Evaluation results: Granulation ○ ○ ○ ○ × × × × * 1: Not evaluable (Note) AE nonion-1: Saturated fat with 12 to 15 carbon atoms
Ethylene oxide 9 mol adduct of group alcohol (Liot
Dovanox 25I manufactured by Kagaku Kagaku Co., Ltd.) AE nonion-2: saturated aliphatic alcohol having 12 to 15 carbon atoms
Cole's ethylene oxide (made by Lion Chemical Co., Ltd.
Vanox 25H) FME Nonion: C₁₅H₃₁CO (OCH₂CH₂)₈OC
H₃(Lion Chemical Co., Ltd., fatty acid methyl ethoxylate
Amorphous silica: Tokseal N (manufactured by Tokuyama Soda Co., Ltd.) Sodium carbonate: light ash and granular ash manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.
1: 1 mixture High melting point activator-1: fatty acid residue having 14 to 18 carbon atoms
Sodium sulfonate of fatty acid methyl ester, melting point
60 ° C. high melting point activator-2: di-long-chain alkyl having an alkyl chain length of 18
Ludimethyl quaternary ammonium chloride, melting point 60 ° C. High melting point activator-3: fatty acid sodium having 12 to 18 carbon atoms
High melting point activator-4: α-olefin having 14 to 18 carbon atoms
Potassium sulfonate, melting point 55 ° C

Further, the granular nonionic detergent composition having the composition obtained in Examples 1 to 4 was further mixed with 0.2 part of the enzyme powder and sprayed with 0.2 part of the fragrance, and the actual washing was carried out. As a result, it was confirmed that there were no particular problems and the quality and performance were good.

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The following components (a) to (e) are used in the following amounts, respectively: (a) Liquid or pasty nonionic surfactant at less than 35 ° C .: 10 to 70% by weight (b) Crystallinity Aluminosilicate: 5 to 50 wt% (c) Porous inorganic oxide powder: 0.2 wt% to less than 5 wt% (d) Sodium carbonate: less than 75 wt% (e) Melting point High melting point of 35 ° C or more Surfactant: 0.1-1
0 wt% (a) Nonionic surfactant (e) High melting point surfactant is dissolved and mixed, and the resulting mixture is mixed with (b) crystalline aluminosilicate (c) porous inorganic oxide powder And (d) a method for producing a granular nonionic detergent composition, which comprises stirring and granulating sodium carbonate to obtain detergent particles.