JPS6131752B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the processing of soap feedstocks to provide soap bars containing entrained gases.

The presence of entrained gas in detergent solids reduces the bulk density of the product and thereby allows it to float in the cleaning liquid if sufficient gas is incorporated. These gases, usually air but which may be nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or other gases that are easily dispersed throughout the detergent, are introduced into the material in finely dispersed form to create a homogeneous composition when viewed by the user. Give products like you have.

The present invention uses a cavity transfer mixer type device to introduce gas into the detergent material. These devices include two closely spaced mutually displaceable surfaces, each having a pattern of recesses, so that as the surfaces move, the patterns overlap so that the material passing between the surfaces is Alternately tracing small diameters through recesses in the surface, the bulk material passes through shear zones in the material caused by the displacement of the surface.

Recessed displacement mixers are usually made cylindrical and in the preferred apparatus for this method the recesses are always useful but arranged so that the path through which the two surfaces pass between each other is varied. A device having a cylindrical shape includes a stator in which a rotor is provided; opposite surfaces of the stator and rotor have recesses through which the material passes as it passes through the device.

The device may also have a planar shape, in which the opposing flat surfaces having a pattern of recesses are
For example, they may be moved relative to each other by rotation of one plane, so that the material introduced between the surfaces moves forward at the point of rotation and alternately moves between recesses on each surface. Dew.

Another type of cylindrical shape is that the outer cylinder rotates but the inner cylinder remains stationary. The central stator is easily cooled or heated if desired, since the liquid connection is made in a simple way; the outer rotor can also be cooled or heated in a simple way. . It is mechanically easier to apply rotational energy to the outer body than to the inner cylinder. This configuration therefore has advantages in construction and use.

As the rotor rotates, the material is forced into the mixer using auxiliary equipment. Examples of auxiliary equipment are screw extruders and piston rams. The auxiliary equipment is preferably operated separately from the mixer, so that the throughput and the work carried out thereon can be independently varied. The separation operation can be accomplished by positioning the auxiliary equipment to feed the material for processing at an angle to the centerline of the shear generating equipment. This arrangement makes it possible to supply rotational energy to a device that generates shear forces about its centerline. In-line alignment can be more easily achieved if the outer member of the device is the rotor. Equipment separation operations and auxiliary equipment assist in controlling processing.

Generally various recess shapes can be used, for example Metal Box (UK Patent No.
No. 930339) is a longitudinal slot on two surfaces.
Disclose. The stator and rotor can have, for example, from 6 to 12 grooves arranged around their outer edges and extending along their entire length.

Preferably one or both surfaces are subject to thermal conditioning. This method makes it possible to achieve effective heating/cooling of the material.

The detergent feedstock can include non-soap detergents. Examples of these active substances are alkane sulfonates, alcohol sulfates, alkyl benzenesulfonates, alkyl sulfates, acyl isethionates, olefin sulfonates and ethoxylated alcohols. These non-soap detergents can be the major portion or, in some formulations, the entire detergent content.

The processed feedstock was formed into rods using a standard extruder. Other product shapes can also be made from the feedstock, such as extruded pieces (noodles) and beads. The method of the present invention provides efficient distribution of gas throughout the detergent. Gases can be introduced as one component or created in situ by controlled chemical reactions by injection of reactants. Gas miscibility will normally depend on the temperature and composition of the detergent.

The gas can be mixed into the auxiliary equipment or the recessed moving mixer.

Examples of places where gas can be introduced are by direct injection into the hopper inlet of auxiliary equipment, the injection point of a screw extruder, and into the cavity or cavities in a recessed transfer mixer.

Embodiments of the apparatus will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A recessed moving mixer is shown in longitudinal section in FIG. It comprises a hollow cylindrical stator member 1 and a cylindrical rotor 2 provided with a sliding fit within the stator for rotation, the opposing surfaces of the rotor and stator each being parallel to each other. , having a number of rows of recesses extending around the periphery, where: (a) rows of adjacent recesses on the stator are staggered over the periphery; (b) rows of adjacent recesses on the rotor are staggered over the periphery; and (c) the rows of recesses on the stator and rotor are axially offset.

The pattern of recesses on the stator 3 and rotor 4 is illustrated on FIG. Recesses 3 on the stator are shown with diagonal lines. The overlap between the mold patterns of the recesses 3 and 4 is also the second one.
Shown in the figure. Liquid jacket 1A is provided for applying temperature control by the passage of heating or cooling water. A temperature regulating conduit 2A is provided within the rotor.

Material passing through the device passes through recesses on opposite sides of the stator and rotor alternately. These immediate recesses shown in cross-section are shown in dotted outline on FIG. 1 to show the repeating mold pattern.

The flow of material is split between a pair of adjacent recesses on the same rotor or stator face because the positions of the recesses on opposite stator or rotor faces partially overlap.

The entire or bulk flow of material is significantly influenced during passage through the shear zone caused by the relative displacement of the stator and rotor surfaces. The material is entrained into each cavity for a short time during its passage and in this way one of its velocity components is changed.

The mixer had a 2.54 cm radius rotor with 36 hemispherical recesses (0.9 cm radius) arranged in 6 rows of 6 recesses. The inner surface of the stator has seven rows of six recesses to provide different inlets and outlets. The material to be acted upon is inserted into the groove 5 leading into the annular area between the rotor and the stator during operation with the screw extruder.
is injected into the device through the The material exited the device through nozzle 6.

FIG. 4 shows a rectangular arrangement of elongated recesses; these recesses have the cross-sectional contour of FIG. These recesses are aligned with their longitudinal direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device and with the direction of travel of the material through the device; the latter is indicated by an arrow.

FIG. 5 shows a pattern of recesses having the dimensions and contours shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. The recesses in FIG. 5 are arranged in a square pattern with adjacent recesses on the same surface closely spaced apart. This pattern does not provide as much overlap as that provided by the pattern of FIG. The latter has six recesses, each closely spaced, on the same surface, i.e., a hexagonal pattern.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a recessed displacement mixer having a rotor 7 rotatably positioned within a hollow stator 8 having an effective length of 10.7 cm and a diameter of 2.54 cm. The rotor has five parallel grooves 9 of semi-circular cross-section (5 mm diameter) spaced equidistantly around its outer edge and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis along the length of the rotor. The inner cylindrical surface of the stator 8 extends along its length and has a similar dimension 8 parallel to the longitudinal axis.
It has a book groove 10. This embodiment utilizes recesses that extend unobstructed along the stator and rotor. Temperature control jackets and conduits were present.

Figure 7 shows a pattern of recesses in which the recesses on the rotor (which is shown with diagonal lines) and on the stator have larger dimensions perpendicular to the flow of material; the flow is shown with arrows. It can be done. The recess is elongated like this. This embodiment provides a lower pressure drop over its length compared to a similarly shaped device that does not have a long dimension vertical recess, ie located perpendicular to the flow of material. In order to obtain a reduction in pressure drop, at least one of the surfaces must have an elongated recess with a long dimension perpendicular to the flow of material.

The recessed displacement mixer of FIG. 8 is provided with an outer cylinder 11 around a central shaft 12 for rotation. A temperature regulating jacket 13 and conduits were present but the latter are not shown since the recess on the central shaft is shown in plan view while the rotor has been cut away. Central stator (diameter 52
mm) had three rows 14 of three recesses with partial recesses, ie half recesses at the inlet and outlet points. There were 4 cases 15 of 3 cavities on the rotor. The recesses on the stator and rotor are elongated and have a total arc dimension of 5.1 cm perpendicular to the material flow and have hemispherical cross-section ends with a radius of 1.2 cm joined by semicircularly cut panels of the same radius. has. The recesses were arranged like the mold pattern of FIG. 7, ie, with their long dimension perpendicular to the flow of material. The rotor was driven by chain conduction to an external gear 16.

EXAMPLE A recess moving mixer shown in FIG. 1 was used. The mixer had a rotor radius of 2.54 cm with 36 hemispherical recesses (0.9 cm radius) arranged in 6 rows of 6 recesses. The interior surface of the stator had seven rows of six recesses to provide overlapping recesses at the inlet and outlet.

A soap feedstock derived from tallow (60%) and coconut oil (40%), of which 7.5% was present in free fatty acids, was vacuum dried to 10% moisture and 0.6% electrolytes. The dry material in chip form was extruded through a standard soap extruder, but the extruder did not apply a vacuum to the feed chamber. Therefore, air was mixed into the material as coarse bubbles. The rotor was then rotated at 120 revolutions per minute to pass the material through the recess transfer mixer. The soap temperature at the mixer inlet was 38°C and it left the mixer at 55°C; throughput was 500g/min. Cooling was applied to the rotor and stator.

The extruded billets exhibited a uniform appearance and had reduced density.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a recessed moving mixer having a cylindrical shape; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a recessed portion in the apparatus of FIG. Figures 4, 5 and 7 illustrate other mold patterns of recesses; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view through a mixer having grooves in opposing surfaces of the device; FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of a recessed moving mixer in which the outer cylinder forms a rotor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for aerating soap-containing detergent materials, comprising two surfaces each having a pattern of overlapping recesses during movement of the surfaces and which are relatively displaceable at close intervals. passing a soap-containing material mixed with a gas between the surfaces, whereby the material transferred between the surfaces alternately traces a small diameter through the recesses in each surface, whereby the majority of the material is removed by the displacement of the surfaces. A method as described above, characterized in that the gas-admixed soap-containing material is subjected to processing by passing through shear zones in the resulting material. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the two surfaces have a cylindrical shape. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermal modulation is applied to at least one surface. 4. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the recesses in at least one surface are elongated with an elongated dimension perpendicular to the flow of the material. 5 The temperature of the soap-containing formulation during processing is approximately 30°C to approximately 55°C.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the temperature is in the range of .degree.