competition keen in soaps and detergents

2
CSLEN ANNUAL REVIEW OP Developments in the Chemical and Process Industries COMPETITION KEEN IN SOAPS AND DETERGENTS FOSTER DEE SNELL, Foster D. Snell, Inc., 29 W. 15th St., New York 1Ί, Ν. Υ. For industrial purposes there are many competing manufacturers offering soap or synthetic detergents . . . . . . The life history of those products, starting sometimes from the soil via cattle or living plants or sometimes from petro- leum wells, naturally takes one or a variety of paths. When the final stage of dis- tribution to the public is reached, the three major distributors in this field find themselves offering both types of products in competition with themselves as well as with their competitors. That sounds complex, but so are the advertising and distribution of soaps and synthetic deter- gents. Soap Production In the immediate postwar >ears soap production remained nearly static at slightly over 3 billion pounds, increased demand being tempered by the ever- rising prices which reflected increase in base-stock costs. Following a short re- lapse in 1948, the inevitable break in raw material costs came dramatically in 1949. Thus, inedible tallow was IS cents a pound in late 194S and 6 cents in late 1949. This break resulted from tremendous over- production,,,., which had been stimulated by the high tallow prices. Coconut oil, without the overproduction factor, de- clined in the same period only from 24 cents to 14 cents a pound. An immediate result was improvement of the competi- tive position of soap as compared with synthetic detergents and an over-all 10'« increase in 1949 soap production over that of 194S. The price dislocation as com- pared with prewar has caused a decline in the average coconut oil content of soap from about 20'; r prewar to 14 r r in 1949. Since coconut oil gives improved solu- bility and lathering power, this has been largely made up in the intervening years by replacement of a modest percentage of caustic soda by caustic potash. Recent Developments Continuous soap manufacture is not new but the trend continues apace. Each of the three major producers now operates one or more such processes. The initial fats, oils, and caustic are the same as in the batch method, and the end product is indistinguishable by the consumer. The radically different processes must pay their way in ( 1 ) increased glycerol yields, (2) lesser time of throughput with at- tendant reduction in capital tied up in production process, or (·>) saving in power or labor. The significance of the first declined with the coming of synthetic glycerol and a quoted market price of under 24 cents a pound. The second is offset by the greater investment in equip- ment, at least until amortized. The third factor is probably significant. Neverthe- less, there is no reason as yet to expect the junking of all the 40-year-old soap kettles in use. Fat splitting, closely related to the preceding topic, has progressed to permit lower temperatures, lower pressures, and more closely cut fractions in terms of degree of saturation. Offering of a milled bar of soap con- taining a stated germicide and claiming that if used "exclusively and daily," it would reduce body odor was permitted with the blessing of the Food and Drug Administration. There are indications that this form of product is the forerunner of a whole group of such products, although not necessarily in the same physi- cal form. Soaps have contained very minor amounts of many miscellaneous ingredi- ents unknown to the public—tin com- pounds and silicates, for example. Those have now been amplified by addition to household soaps of less than 0.1% of a colorless organic chemical. When used on cottons this is substantive. It is often referred to as a colorless dye—it absorbs ultraviolet rays to emit them as blue light. The effect is one of bluing without actual presence of a colored dye. Unlike blu- ing, such agents act by increasing rather than decreasing the total light reflected by the illuminated fabric, and thus they impart brightness as well as whiteness. This is naturally much more effective in daylight than in artificial light. The use of molceiilnrly dehydrated phosphates in built soaps was nearly eliminated during World War II. Only this year did their availability become great enough, because of new capacity coining into production, so that the manu- facturer can formulate as he wishes. These sequestering agents, such as tetra- sodium pyrophosphate, correspondingly have come back to an economic optimum level. In the interim, demand has changed to favor the newer, more effective tripolyphosphate. Increasing from only 20,000 tons in 1948, tripolyphosphate is predicted to exceed 100,000 tons in 1950. This is in part a reflection of the lower price which accompanies increased pro- duction. Organic sequestering agents are still too expensive to compete in this field. Synthetic Detergents Production Although over 700 different surface active agents are listed by brand names, the synthetic detergents are limited. Many listed surface active agents are wetting agents or emulsifiers, not possessing all the physical-chemical properties required for detcrgency. Some structures appear many times under different names. De- pending on the definition adopted, the number of different detergent structures varies from 40—often differing only in chain length—to less than 10. A very few detergent structures comprise the bulk of the production. It is estimated that the 300 million pounds of built syn- thetic detergents in 1947 zoomed to 500 million in 1948 and 800 million in 1949. T HE career of Foster Dee Snell, New York con- sultant, has run parallel to the development of the chemical industry itself in the U. S. When he first graduated from Colgate in 1919 there was little demand for chemists, and until he could get a toehold he became a seed salesman, then an employee of the Binghamton Gas Works. He also taught at the College of the City of New York and at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. His many contacts and omnivorous chemical interests fitted him extraordinarily well for the role of consultant. His private laboratories, which began business in 1928, have continually expanded in space and personnel to an impressive 10-story building and a staff of 90. VOLUME 2 8, NO. 1 . » JANUARY 2, 1 9 5 0 29

Upload: foster-dee

Post on 07-Feb-2017

214 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: COMPETITION KEEN IN SOAPS AND DETERGENTS

CSLEN ANNUAL REVIEW OP Developments in the Chemical and Process Industries

COMPETITION KEEN IN SOAPS AND DETERGENTS FOSTER DEE SNELL, Foster D. Snell, Inc., 29 W. 15th St., New York 1Ί, Ν. Υ.

For industrial purposes there are many competing

manufacturers offering soap or synthetic detergents . . .

. . . The life history of those products, starting sometimes from the soil via cattle or living plants or sometimes from petro­leum wells, naturally takes one or a variety of paths. When the final stage of dis­tribution to the public is reached, the three major distributors in this field find themselves offering both types of products in competition with themselves as well as with their competitors. That sounds complex, but so are the advertising and distribution of soaps and synthetic deter­gents.

Soap Production

In the immediate postwar >ears soap production remained nearly static at slightly over 3 billion pounds, increased demand being tempered by the ever-rising prices which reflected increase in base-stock costs. Following a short re­lapse in 1948, the inevitable break in raw material costs came dramatically in 1949. Thus, inedible tallow was IS cents a pound in late 194S and 6 cents in late 1949. This break resulted from tremendous over­production,,,., which had been stimulated by the high tallow prices. Coconut oil, without the overproduction factor, de­clined in the same period only from 24 cents to 14 cents a pound. An immediate result was improvement of the competi­tive position of soap as compared with synthetic detergents and an over-all 10'« increase in 1949 soap production over that of 194S. The price dislocation as com­pared with prewar has caused a decline in the average coconut oil content of soap from about 20'; r prewar to 14rr in 1949. Since coconut oil gives improved solu­bility and lathering power, this has been largely made up in the intervening years by replacement of a modest percentage of caustic soda by caustic potash.

Recent Developments

Continuous soap manufacture is not new but the trend continues apace. Each of the three major producers now operates one or more such processes. The initial fats, oils, and caustic are the same as in the batch method, and the end product is indistinguishable by the consumer. The radically different processes must pay their way in ( 1 ) increased glycerol yields, (2 ) lesser time of throughput with at­tendant reduction in capital tied up in

production process, or (·>) saving in power or labor. The significance of the first declined with the coming of synthetic glycerol and a quoted market price of under 24 cents a pound. The second is offset by the greater investment in equip­ment, at least until amortized. The third factor is probably significant. Neverthe­less, there is no reason as yet to expect the junking of all the 40-year-old soap kettles in use.

Fat splitting, closely related to the preceding topic, has progressed to permit lower temperatures, lower pressures, and more closely cut fractions in terms of degree of saturation.

Offering of a milled bar of soap con­taining a stated germicide and claiming that if used "exclusively and daily," it would reduce body odor was permitted with the blessing of the Food and Drug Administration. There are indications that this form of product is the forerunner of a whole group of such products, although not necessarily in the same physi­cal form.

Soaps have contained very minor amounts of many miscellaneous ingredi­ents unknown to the public—tin com­pounds and silicates, for example. Those have now been amplified by addition to household soaps of less than 0.1% of a colorless organic chemical. When used on cottons this is substantive. It is often referred to as a colorless dye—it absorbs ultraviolet rays to emit them as blue light. The effect is one of bluing without actual presence of a colored dye. Unlike blu­ing, such agents act by increasing rather than decreasing the total light reflected by the illuminated fabric, and thus they

impart brightness as well as whiteness. This is naturally much more effective in

daylight than in artificial light. The use of molceiilnrly dehydrated

phosphates in built soaps was nearly eliminated during World War II. Only this year did their availability become great enough, because of new capacity coining into production, so that the manu­facturer can formulate as he wishes. These sequestering agents, such as tetra-sodium pyrophosphate, correspondingly have come back to an economic optimum level. In the interim, demand has changed to favor the newer, more effective tripolyphosphate. Increasing from only 20,000 tons in 1948, tripolyphosphate is predicted to exceed 100,000 tons in 1950. This is in part a reflection of the lower price which accompanies increased pro­duction. Organic sequestering agents are still too expensive to compete in this field.

Synthetic Detergents Production

Although over 700 different surface active agents are listed by brand names, the synthetic detergents are limited. Many listed surface active agents are wetting agents or emulsifiers, not possessing all the physical-chemical properties required for detcrgency. Some structures appear many times under different names. De­pending on the definition adopted, the number of different detergent structures varies from 40—often differing only in chain length—to less than 10. A very few detergent structures comprise the bulk of the production. It is estimated that the 300 million pounds of built syn­thetic detergents in 1947 zoomed to 500 million in 1948 and 800 million in 1949.

THE career of Foster Dee Snell, New York con­sultant, has run parallel to the development of

the chemical industry itself in the U. S. When he first graduated from Colgate in 1919 there was little demand for chemists, and until he could get a toehold he became a seed salesman, then an employee of the Binghamton Gas Works. He also taught at the College of the City of New York and at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. His many contacts and omnivorous chemical interests fitted him extraordinarily well for the role of consultant. His private laboratories, which began business in 1928, have continually expanded in space and personnel to an impressive 10-story building and a staff of 90.

V O L U M E 2 8, NO. 1 . » J A N U A R Y 2, 1 9 5 0 29

Page 2: COMPETITION KEEN IN SOAPS AND DETERGENTS

The most important products, volume-wise , are derived from petroleum and are alky I aryl sulfonates, with some alkyl sulfonates. Those from fat sources are mainly aikyl sulfates, sulfonated acid amides, and sulfated inonoglycerides. T h e petroleum-derived type stepped still further into the lead in 1949. Paralleling that, England multiplied her production of aikyl aryl sulfonates and at the same t ime increased the secondary alcohol sul­fates derived from paraiiin—the Teepols. This represented an economy in fat stocks and was derived in large part from hydro­carbons furnished by U. S. companies or their affiliates. The same thing to a greater or lesser degree is true of all accessible European countries.

The trend in recent years, both here and abroad, has been to a division of labor. The petroleum bases for sulfona-tion are mainly produced by petroleum chemical companies. Their sale in bulk permits the modest-scale, local production of the end product by companies with a background of sulfonating experience. T h e main drawback is the cost of equipment for drying. A low five-figure investment in drying rolls, or in a small spray tower, is required.

Recent declines in production cost ot synthetic detergents have not followed those for soap. Basically the raw mate­rials are much less expensive b".t their fabrication into the desired molecular structures requires elaborate plants. Thus, raw materials averaging well under 3 cents per pound yield delivered alkylate at around 15 cents a pound. Because of increased wartime capacity for making toluene from petroleum, that type of alkylate is lower in price than that from benzene. One pound of alkylate in turn yields something over 3 pounds of built synthetic. So the present status is that built synthetic competes on an approxi­mate price equality with built soap prod­ucts, but the degree of building effective with the synthetic is much greater than that commercially practiced with soaps. On a basis of anhydrous active agent, even the lower-price alkyl aryl sulfonates cost at least 2.5 times the soap price. T h e alkyl sulfates, which cost even more, are built further; this compensates for their higher production cost.

Developments in the Industry

Building with inorganic salts took a big step forward. Synthetic detergents built with 60% of sodium sulfate are efficient on silk and wool but not on cotton. T h e incorporation of up to 5 0 % of molecularly dehydrated polyphosphate has a profound effect in promoting the breaking of oil-fiber bonds of soil on cotton. Other alkaline salts show this property to a much lower degree. This has led the three major distributors in the field to offer two products each, one built with sodium sulfate, the other with alkaline salts including polyphosphate for heavy-duty laundry work. Of the latter, two are petroleum-derived.

Another significant development has

been the increasing use of carboxy-methylcellulose in heavy-duty synthetic detergent formulations. In some coun­tries, notably The Netherlands, it is re­quired even in soap. There is conflicting evidence as to whether CMC aids in removing soil, but there is no doubt that it is sorbed on the fabric, prevents soil from redepositing, and thus exerts an antigraying action. This has been an important factor in improving the per­formance of synthetic detergent composi­tions for the family laundry.

After a protracted test period in two areas, general sale of liquid nonionics for dishwashing and related household uses has proceeded nationally with good recep­tion. These products are necessarily high-priced as more than half of the molecule is formed from ethylene oxide, quoted at around 16 cents per pound. Prices are comparable with those for unbuilt anion-active agents. Their high stability permits applications where other types are not suitable. They are efficient in washing wool. They are synergistic with anion-active synthetics. Of four detergents the U. S. Army found suitable for laundering in sea water, two were nonionics and two were fatty-acid amide sulfonates. Non­ionics derived from tall oil and ethylene oxide are of low enough cost and high enough efficiency to permit some applica­tion in commercial laundering.

Low-foaming detergents, usually spe­cial nonionic agents, have been applied increasingly. One application is washing clothes in automatic home washing ma­chines. Another is in automatic dish­washing machines. For either of these purposes heavy suds are a positive detri­ment to proper cleaning.

Shampoos based on synthetic detergents continued their sensational advance, as early drawbacks—overdrying of the hair and scalp—were overcome by incorpora­tion of more efficient hair-conditioning materials. Considerably more than half of the dollar volume of shampoos sold in the U. S. during 1949 were of the synthetic rather than the soap type. Tri-ethanolamine lauryl sulfate and ammonium lauryl monoglyceride sulfate got a large share of this market.

Cation-active agents continued to be important as germicidal agents. They are widely used for sanitizing dishes, dairy equipment, etc. In addition, increasing application has been made of the "reverse detergency" properties of these agents, whereby they are substantive to many nonpolar surfaces to promote oil adhesion to those surfaces. Two such applications are affixing emulsified wax to paper fibers and conditioning human hair b y rinsing with an emulsion containing cation-active agents.

In this field, soap and synthetic deter­gents merge and the problems overlap. The properties "which make up detergency are attributed to the long chain ion or, in the case of nonionics, to the molecule. Correlation of physical-property studies with detergency indicates that the maxi­mum efficiency in use lies in the range

just above that where micelle formation begins. Micelles may consist of not only soap or detergent ions or molecules but also include long chain alcohols or amines without altering the size of the micelle. From this it is only a short step to the solubilizing—with attendant increase in the size of the micelle—of liquid soil such as oil in the micelle, a minor factor in detergency.

Standard soiled cloth for use in deter­gency testing became available from sev­eral new sources. At the same time in­creasing recognition was given to graying by redeposition of soil during washing, as a factor different from and equal in im­portance to removal of soil from heavily soiled fabric.

Use of radioactive elements to follow calcium ion sorption and interchange dur­ing washing of fabrics was reported. This is undoubtedly a precursor of many studies designed to clarify the surface phenomena which constitute detergency by the use of radioactive "tagged" molecules.

Studies were reported on the use ol supersonic vibrations for promoting re­moval of soil from fabric. Possibilities for more rapid and efficient detergency are offered b y the application of such small-amplitude, rapid vibrations in place of the usual gross mechanical agitation.

The use of molecularly dehydrated phosphates, mentioned elsewhere, is a property of polyvalent negative ions in rupturing of oil-fabric bonds. The charge on the cotton is probably modified by this as well as by sorption of CMC.

Of the many applications, three of diverse importance are illustrative. ID general, in products which may contact hard water and which have a low soap content, the soap has been replaced by synthetics. Scouring powder is an out­standing example.

Products closely related to synthetic-detergents structurally, if not useful foi that purpose, are added to baked goods, notably bread. In optimum proportion the texture is smoother, and, more im­portant, the softness when bread is 3 days old is as great as it would otherwise be when 1 day old.

The Fifth Avenue sidewalks in New York are visibly much cleaner than the general run-of-the-mill, because they are washed daily in the early morning with a special machine and a solution of syn­thetic detergent. They are not just "The Sidewalks of New York" in the song, but the clean sidewalks of N e w York!

Query

Historically, artificial silk became rayon; synthetic tanning agents became syntans; carboxymethylcellulose became CMC. What will b e the successor to the jaw-breaking term synthetic detergents? Will they acquire a coined name, say "syndets"?

Acknowledgment

Appreciation is expressed of editorial assistance b y Cornelia A. Tyler, John R. Skeen, and Irving Reich.

30 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S