Manufacturing processes nonionic surfactants

Description. As already discussed, another class of polymeric surfactants, very similar to the above, consists of the combination of the assembly of PPG chains (hydrophobic part) and PEG chains (hydrophilic part) such surfactants are called EO/PO block copolymer nonionics. Depending on the adopted manufacturing process, these surfactants can present a central PEG block (ethoxylated PPG ethers) or a central PPG block (propoxylated PEG ethers). 

The primary application of these alcohols is the manufacture of anionic or nonionic surfactants for personal cleansing products, most of which end up in your wastewater treatment plants and rivers. Microorganisms don t chew up branch-chain surfactants as well as they do the straight ones. It used to be, for example that the surfactant based on the sodium salt of dodecyl benzene sulfonate, a 12-carbon branch chained anionic surfactant, was found to be slowing, down water treatment processes. Dodecyl alcohol as a raw material for these surfactants has been largely replaced by laurel alcohol, a 12-carbon straight-chain, linear alcohol. If you look at the bottle next time you shampoo your hair and rinse, you ll see sulfonates based on laurel alcohol listed, but none based on dodecyl. 

Nonene is used in the manufacture of nonylphenol (30%) and ethoxylated nonylphenol nonionic surfactants. It is also used in the oxo process to make isodecyl alcohol (34%) for esters as plasticizers. 

Ltiders H (1987) Technical processes for manufacturing alkyl polyglucosides. In BalzerD, Harald L (eds) Nonionic surfactants - alkyl polyglucosides. Marcel Dekker, New York and Basel... 

Since the alkylphenol products used in the surfactants industry border on the commodity type, margins are slim and reductions in manufacturing costs of the parent alkylphenol are a must to stave off competition, not only from other producers, but also from other nonionic surfactant types. For this reason, process development has become a fruitful area of research for the alkylphenol industry, particularly those areas that improved catalysis or reaction conditions and recovery for recycle (by isomerization or transalkylation) of by-product streams. 

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