Production, characterization and pre-commercialization of laundry detergent powders incorporated with palm C16 methyl ester sulphonates

Abstract

Palm C16 methyl ester sulphonate (C16MES) is an anionic surfactant that has the potential as an active ingredient in the production of laundry detergent powders. Although C16MES has been successfully applied in the production of high-density laundry detergent powders (HDDP), it could not be employed during spray drying process in the production of market preferred low-density laundry detergent powders (LDDP) without compromising the detergency and other significant attributes. This dissertation encompasses experimental research on phosphate-free laundry detergent (PFD) powders incorporated with binary anionic surfactants of C16MES and linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (LABSA) at both laboratory and pilot scales and also include consumer studies towards laundry detergent products with special reference to palm C16MES incorporated laundry detergent powders. Initial laboratory experiments revealed that PFD powders resulted from C16MES/LABSA of 50:50 ratio and of pH 7 - 8 have good detergency stability upon one-week of continuous heating in an oven at 50 oC with 85% relative humidity. Subsequent experiments were carried out in a pilot spray dryer using PFD formulations of six different ratios of C16MES/LABSA under the same pH condition. Three PFD formulations were selected for further evaluation based on their suitability in the spray drying process. The cleaning properties and particle characteristics of the resulting spray dried detergent powders from these selected formulations were analyzed. Based on the overall evaluation, C16MES/LABSA in 40:60 ratio was selected as the ideal PFD formulation. Further tests confirmed that spray dried detergent powder (SDDP) from the ideal formulation has a high level of biodegradability (60% in 13 days), low eco-toxicity properties (LC50 of 11.3 mg/L) and moderate flowability characteristics (Hausner ratio of 1.27 and Carr’s index of 21.3). Other than experimental studies, a pilot survey was also carried out to study consumers’ preferences (detergent format, brand and origin) and their purchasing behaviour (awareness, knowledge and perception) towards laundry detergent products, specifically with reference to palm C16MES incorporated detergent powders. The majority of the respondents (82%) reported that although they neither have the knowledge about palm MES incorporated detergent powders nor heard of its surfactants, their preferences to use this new eco-friendly product were generally positive (94%). The results imply the commercial potential of the MES incorporated laundry detergent powders and with effective commercialization strategies, the product can attain success in the marketplace.