Surface-washing agents formulations

Many surfactant mixtures for treating oil spills have been promoted in the past two decades to overcome the extensive problems and costs of physical recovery. Of particular interest to this volume are dispersants, surface-washing agents, and emulsion breakers and inhibitors. All of these are formulations containing surfactants as active ingredients. Dispersants, in particular, promise to reduce the efforts and costs of cleaning up oil spills. 

Dispersants are formulated to disperse oil slicks into the sea or another water body. Surface-washing agents, or beach cleaners as they are sometimes called, are surfactant formulations designed to remove oil from surfaces such as beaches. Emulsion breakers and inhibitors are intended to break water-in-oil emulsions or to prevent their formation. 

Formulations. Little information is available on specific formulations for surface-washing agents because the formulations vary extensively and many are not patented. Several basic types of formulations... 

Used for their good performance, more often than not in formulations, surface-active agents can be classified as specialties even though the quantities consumed in certain cases might connect them with commodities. The structure of the major part of the detergents industry has remained rather stable over the last few years despite some frontier adjustments. The washing powder sector, where advertising costs are considerable, is dominated by a small number of substantial... 

One of the benefits of anaerobic impregnation sealants has been the comparative cleanliness of the processes in which they are used. The original anaerobic products were soluble in their uncured state in aqueous rinsing solutions which facilitated removal of excess material. Novel formulations have now been developed which incorporate surface active agents. These formulations require only a plain water wash to remove uncured material, reducing operating costs and waste disposal. 

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