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New Horizons
probes
new theories,
basic science
Surfactants & Detergents News
A new photoactive bleach, a shower
cleaner that was invented in order to
relieve a husband of a nasty household
chore, and detergent-free washing
machines were only a few of the products
and processes discussed during the
New Horizons Conference, held Oct.
14–17, 2001, at the Sanibel Harbour
Resort in Fort Myers, Florida.
The triennial conference was cosponsored
by the American Oil Chemists’
Society and the Consumer Specialty
Products Association. Subtitled
“Detergents for the New Millennium,”
the meeting focused on changes in the
theory and basic science of detergents,
as well as on technology, products, the
home, and environmental safety and
regulation.
Keynote speaker Ernie Rosenberg,
president of The Soap and Detergent
Association, noted that in the wake of
the devastation of Sept. 11, the conference
focus on the future was appropriate,
given that the chemical industry
was facing economic crisis. The force of
Sept. 11 events was evident as six of 24
papers were withdrawn and registration
slipped to 138 after some companies
banned nonessential travel for their
employees.
New bleaches and cleaners
The development of a new series of
highly photoactive and oil-soluble lightactivated
bleaches based on the silicon
phthalocyanine (SiPC) ring system was
the subject of a presentation by Michael
Burns of The Procter & Gamble Co.
Although photobleaches have been used
previously in laundry products in the
past, such materials were limited to
bleaching of water-soluble, polar stains,
such as tea and wine on cotton fabrics.
All photobleaches work by a catalytic
process that uses light, oxygen, and
a photosensitizer to form singlet oxygen
as the active bleaching agent. These
bleaches are thus potentially more costeffective
and friendly to the environment
than are conventional bleach systems.
The SiPC structure has two propoxylated
glycerol (PGLY) axial groups that
provide the molecule with the proper
solubility, dispersibility, deaggregation,
and the like, whereas the phthalocyanine
ring provides the necessary photochemistry.
In addition, the
SiPC(PGLY) 2 molecule is combined
with polyethylene glycol 4000 to allow
the photobleach to disperse fully in
water. The result is an aqueous dispersion
that deposits the photobleach on
fabric in an effective form and prevents
self-quenching of the activated photobleach
molecules.
P&G has donated the patents to
Case Western Reserve University, which
intends to commercilize it, Burns said.
A new category of liquid cleaners
was another type of formulation discussed
during a session on product
innovation.
“The cosmetic guys were ahead of
us,” said Alex Ditze of Henkel KGaA,
speaking about his company’s introduction
of the first commercial two-phase
hard-surface cleaners, which combine
application properties that up to now
seemed incompatible, to remove both
fat and limescale. One cleaner is a multipurpose
product that may be used in
either diluted or concentrated form and
the other is a trigger-spray glass cleaner.
Both products exhibit better performance
features than conventional cleaners,
he said. The products were introduced
in Italy in 1999, in Greece in
2000, and in Germany in 2001.
The kinetics of the phase separation
after the product is shaken to mix the
phases was a challenge to formulators,
Ditze said.
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“It can’t separate too quickly or the
consumer is constantly having to shake
the bottle, and yet the adjustment of the
equilibrium should not take too much
time either,” he noted, adding that the
dilutable product separates in around
15 minutes and the spray-on product in
about 30 minutes.
The upper phase of the dilutable
product is a microemulsion consisting of
surfactants, lipophilic materials, and fragrance.
Changing the fragrance oil
changes the phase behavior, so the preferences
of Henkel’s marketing team for
ever-new fragrances caused problems for
the formulators, Ditze said. The upper
phase of the spray product is an oil-inwater
emulsion with medium viscosity.
The lower phase of both products is a
micellar solution with a low pH.
Detergent-free washing machine
In a review of trends in laundry appliances,
Jack Linard of Unilever Home
and Personal Care–North America discussed
a new technology that has pitted
equipment manufacturer Sanyo against
the Japan Soap and Detergent
Association (JSDA).
Sanyo’s Denkaisui machine, introduced
in late June 2001, uses only electrolysis
and ultrasonic waves to clean
and is billed by Sanyo as the world’s
first “detergent-free” washing machine.
JSDA suggested the machines could
cause damage to fabrics and did not
have “adequate cleansing capabilities.”
Sanyo responded by saying that the
JSDA used unrealistically filthy shirts
for its testing. In the end, Sanyo agreed
that consumers may wish to use detergent
to wash very dirty fabrics, Linard
said. Sales in the first two months were
reported at 30,000 units by The
Financial Times, which said that was a
much faster pace than initial sales of
Sanyo’s traditional washers.
Volume 13 • January 2002 • inform
Surfactants & Detergents News
U.S. consumers can expect to see a
number of new models and add-ons as
implementation of new federal washing
machine standards force companies to
produce new washers, Linard said. The
standards require a 22% improvement
in energy efficiency by 2003 and a 35%
overall increase in efficiency by 2007.
Nearly 10% of all new washer sales
in 2000 were “high-efficiency” models,
he said, even without the regulation.
Manufacturers will begin announcing
each washer model’s average maximum
water usage level but there is no limit on
maximum levels. It would be possible,
he said, that some current machines
which don’t meet the efficiency standards
could be replaced by cold-wateronly
machines.
Other than new washing technologies
such as bubble action, used by
Sharp and Daewoo, or ozone, which
remains stuck on the drawing board,
many companies are selling add-on dispensers
and sensors.
“Consumers have yet to find a compelling
reason to pay for these features,”
he said.
Inventing his way out of housework
Bob Black created a new product category
with Clean Shower, a shower-rinsing
agent that removes mineral deposits
and mildew without any manual scrubbing.
Several years ago, Black’s wife was
helping him in a business he owned and
she suggested that he reciprocate by
helping her around the house. His first
job: the shower.
“The first time I tried cleaning the
shower, I said ‘I have to invent my way
out of this problem,’” he explained,
provoking much laughter from his audience.
“Notice that I defined the problem
as not cleaning the shower, not as making
it easier or faster.”
Once he defined what the new product
needed to do, he was ready to formulate.
Details are in U.S. Patents
5,910,474; 5,837,664; 5,587,022; and
5,536,452. Black sold the business to
Church & Dwight in November 1999,
but after two years of retirement has
begun work on his next project, Clean
Toilet.
“Don’t read the literature if you are
thinking of inventing a new thing,” he
suggested, adding that scientists working
for the major consumer-products
companies are “really good at incremental
improvements, but that is in
some ways a trap.”
Antimicrobial products
Jianwen Mao of Ciba Specialty
Chemicals Inc. presented a paper on
antimicrobial household products written
by Dietmar Ochs of Ciba, who was
unable to attend the meeting.
There are cultural differences in the
demand for antimicrobial personalcare
and household products, Mao
said. Consumers in Asian and Latin
American countries want antimicrobial
products because of the climate,
whereas consumers in the United States
want them because they think antimicrobials
promote health. On the other
hand, European consumers, particularly
in Scandinavia and in German-speaking
countries, consider antimicrobial claims
as superfluous because they perceive
removal of microorganisms as one of
the functions of cleaning products.
Mao noted that field studies have not
proven that antimicrobial agents in
household products reduce bacterial
cross-contamination and thus decrease
the risk of infection in private homes.
Other papers presented at the conference
included: “Multiscale Modeling of
Consumer Products” Fiona Case,
Colgate-Palmolive Co.; “Recent

Developments in Gemini Surfactants
and Their Synergistic Interaction with
Other Surfactants,” Milton Rosen,
Brooklyn College; “Basic and Practical
Aspects of the Solubility of Surfactant
Systems,” John Scamehorn, University
of Oklahoma; “Biotechnology in
Cleaning Products: Potential and
Challenges,” Raj Lad, Genencor
International Inc.; “Environmentally
Friendly Performance Products for
Washing, Dishwashing, and Personal
Care Products,” Barbara Karoleski,
Bayer Corp.; “Advances in Alkyl
Benzene Sulphonate Surfactants,”
Kevin Kott, The Procter & Gamble Co.;
“Is There a Future for Home Dry
Cleaning Products?,” James Smith,
ReGenesis LLC; “The Connected
Home,” Herman Cárdenas, GE-Smart;
“Procedures to Promote and Assess the
Environmental Safety and Regulatory
Compliance of Down-the-Drain
Consumer Products,” James McCabe,
The Clorox Co.; “Biodegradation of
Surfactants—An SDA Perspective,”
Alvaro DeCarvalho, The Soap and
Detergent Assoc.; “Surfactants in
Environmental Remediation,” Jeffery
Harwell, University of Oklahoma;
“VOC Issues in Soaps and Detergents,”
Robert Hamilton, Access Business
Group; “Chemical Safety and
Management—Public Policy Drivers in
a Global Economy,” Robert Shimp, The
Procter & Gamble Co.
Papers that were withdrawn because
their authors could not attend the meeting
included “Polymer-Surfactant
Interactions,” R. Nagarajan, The
Pennsylvania State University; “New
Cleaning Method,” Louis Oldenhove,
Colgate-Palmolive R&D Inc. (presented
by Fiona Case); “Use of Nanoparticles
in Home Care: Deposition of
Nanosilicas onto Cellulose Studied by
Reflectometry,” Geoffroy Cedric,
Rhodia; “Innovative Technologies for
Compact Laundry Detergent,” Shu
Yamaguchi, Lion Corp.; “Innovation
Technologies for Cleaning Paper
Products, Akihito Shizuno, Lion Corp.;
and “Using Design for the Environment
Approaches to Improve Chemical
Decision Making,” Bill Hanson, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Oleochemical conference
paper topics announced
Presentation topics have been
announced for the 2002 World
Oleochemical Conference to be held
April 14–17, 2002, in Barcelona,
Spain.
The program is designed to focus on
issues that will affect the oleochemical
business in coming years. It is being
spnsored by the ASEAN Oleochemical
Manufacturers’ Group (AOMG), the
European Oleochemicals and Allied
Products Group (APAG), the Fatty Oil
Products Committee of the Japan Soap
and Detergent Association (JSDA), the
Industrial Oil Products Division of the
AOCS; and the Oleochemical Steering
Committee of the (U.S.) Soap and
Detergent Association (SDA).
The conference will be divided into
six sessions.
In the oleochemicals overview, presentation
topics will include competitive
practices; a world overview of oleochemicals;
a 20-year outlook, and integration
of oleochemicals into consumer
products.
The raw materials session will
include talks on tallow and bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE);
tropical oils, petrochemical feedstocks,
nontropical oils, emerging oils, and
oleochemical regulations affecting pharmaceutical
uses.
The fatty acids session topics will be
reasons why customers change products,
customer preferences, new developments,
and global capacity.
In the glycerine session, topics will
incude analysis of the North American
market, the European market, the
Asia-Pacific market, synthetic glycerine,
biodiesel, and harmonization of a
global glycerine pharmacopoeia monograph.
The processing and technology session
will include presentations on
Sasol’s alcohol production technology;
using immoblized lipases to produce
diaglycerol; nitrogen-derivative
processing; dicarboxylic acid separation,
and new developments in processing,
additives, and catalyst technology.
The concluding session, on fatty
alcohol and methyl esters, will cover
future use of alcohol, ester, and amine
derivatives in personal-care products;
tertiary amine and derivative markets;
methyl ester and methyl ester sulfonates;
alcohol-related products and
derivatives; and a cost-analysis of using
synthetic alcohol compared to natural
alcohol.
General chairperson for the event is
E.T. Sauer of the United States, with C.
De Coomon of Belgium, S.E. Gloyer of
the United States, J.J. Mahaffey of
Germany, S. Matsuo of Japan, J.L.
Newman of the United States, R.
Pearson of the United Kingdom, R.
Steinmann of Germany, and W. Sutanto
of Singapore serving on the organizing
committee.
Information about the conference
is available from AOCS, P.O. Box
3489, Champaign, IL 61821-3489,
United States (fax: 1-217-351-8091;
e-mail: meetings@aocs.org; netlink:
www.aocs.org/meetings/oleochem/
index.htm).
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Technical registrants will receive
tickets for a welcome reception to be
held April 14 and a conference dinner
to held April 16. Guests of technical
registrants may attend the reception
free-of-charge; nontechnical registrants
who wish to attend the dinner must buy
a ticket in advance.
Several tours are planned for accompanying
persons not attending technical
sessions. Tickets may be ordered individually
for each tour, as explained in
registration brochures available from
AOCS.
Briefs
British Petroleum has completed a
capacity increase at its Lavera, France,
ethylene oxide (EO) facility, expanding
production from 175,000 to 215,000
metric tons per year. BP produces EO
for the manufacture of glycol ethers,
ethanolamines, and brake fluids, as well
Membership in
the Division is
open to any
individual—
it is not
necessary to be
a member of the
AOCS to participate
in Division
activities.
Volume 13 • January 2002 • inform
Surfactants & Detergents News
as using it as a feedstock for polyols and
ethoxylates.
Degussa has sold its 50,000 metric-tonper-year
zeolite production facilities in
Zubillaga-Lantarón, Spain, to FMC
Foret S.A. of Barcelona, Spain. Degussa
shut down production plants in Taipeh,
Taiwan, and Wesseling, Germany,
because it was unable to find a buyer
for them.
P&G Chemicals has increased its glycerine
refining capacity by 10,000 metric
tons as a result of improvements to its
plants in West Thurrock, England, and
Cincinnati, Ohio. The company plans
to build another refinery capable of
producing 50,000 metric tons of glycerine
annually, according to Donald
Appleby, manager of P&G Chemicals’
glycerine products division. The most
likely plant site is in Kuantan, Malaysia,
although sites in Europe and North
AOCS Surfactants and Detergents Division
America are also under consideration,
he said.
Henkel has entered the detergents market
in the United Kingdom with its Glist
3-in-1 automatic dishwashing tablets.
KeyMaster Technologies Inc. of
Kennewick, Washington, has appointed
Hilary Himpler as vice president of
marketing and business development.
KeyMaster specializes in brand protection,
quality assurance, loss prevention,
and security.
Cognis Thai Ltd. intends to double the
annual surfactant production capacity at
its Bangpakong plant to 60,000 metric
tons by mid-2002, according to
Phantuma Huntrakoon, corporate communications
manager. The facility produces
fatty alcohol sulfates, ether sulfates,
and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate for
detergents and personal-care products. ❏
The objective of the Surfactants and Detergents Division is to promote professional interest, communication,
and competence of individuals interested in all aspects of surfactants and detergents. This objective is attained
by discussion of the sciences and technologies associated with the development and production of surfactants
and detergents. Topics include soaps, oleochemicals, formulation and manufacturing, marketing, detergency
performance test methods, processing, analysis, packaging, fragrances, and ancillary additives.
Activities of the Division:
● Sponsors symposia at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo.
● Appoints representatives to all of the program committees within the AOCS, including publications,
education, membership, and some technical committees.
● Sponsors a luncheon/business meeting at the AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo for all Division members.
● Involved in the publication of the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents (JSD).
● Publishes a newsletter several times each year.
To join, contact: AOCS, Membership Programs, P.O. Box 3489, Champaign, IL 61826-3489 USA.
Phone: 1-217-359-2344; Fax: 1-217-351-8091; E-mail: membership@aocs.org.