Process for producing an emulsion

• US 7,495,031 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2005
• Issued: 02/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: KAO Corporation
• Original Assignee: KAO Corporation
• Inventors: Horibata, Tatsuya, Sakuma, Yasumitsu, Miyoshi, Kazuhito
• Primary Examiner(s): Metzmaier; Daniel S
• Application Number:
  US11/060,569
• Publication Number:
  US 20050197271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,467 Days
• Field of Search: 516/53, 516/900, 510/417, 510/476, 510/238, 510/507, 510/509
• US Class Current: 516/53
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 17/0013 Liquid compositions with insoluble particles in suspension C11D17/0021, C11D17/0026, C11D17/003 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 3/046 Salts
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 3/128 Aluminium silicates, e.g. zeolites C11D3/1253 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C11D 3/3765 in liquid compositions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 516/90 Liquid crystal material of, or for, colloid system, e.g. g phase

Abstract

A process for producing an emulsion, including adding a mixture (1) comprising a water-soluble inorganic salt (a) and/or an aqueous solution containing (a) to a mixture (2) containing a surfactant (b), a surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) for emulsifying the surfactant (b), and a hydrophilic powder (d), and mixing mixtures (1) and (2) to emulsify the surfactant (b), wherein water-soluble inorganic salt (a) may be a carbonate, surfactant (b) may be an anionic surfactant and/or a nonionic surfactant, surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) may be a water-soluble polymer, and hydrophilic powder (d) may be an inorganic chelating agent.

Claims

1. A process for producing an emulsion, comprising adding a mixture (1) comprising a water-soluble inorganic salt (a) which comprises potassium carbonate and/or an aqueous solution comprising the potassium carbonate to a mixture (2) comprising a surfactant (b) which comprises a mixture of anionic surfactant and nonionic surfactant, a surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) which comprises a copolymer of polyethylene glycol monomethacrylate and methacrylic acid for emulsifying the surfactant (b), and a hydrophilic powder (d) which comprises a zeolite, and mixing mixtures (1) and (2) to emulsify the surfactant (b), wherein surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) is such that when a composition containing 20 weight % of the surfactant (b), 30 weight % potassium carbonate, 5 weight % of the surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) and the balance, water, is shaken in a transparent bottle for 1 minute at room temperature and left at room temperature for 3 minutes, the composition remains opaque in an emulsified state.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the mixture (2) further comprises water.

3. The process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mixing step is performed using a stirrer attached with mixing bath.

4. The process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrophilic powder (d) has a particle diameter of 20 μ

m or less in terms of the diameter of secondarily agglomerated particles.

5. The process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrophilic powder (d) has a particle diameter of 1 μ

m or more.

6. The process according to claim 2, wherein water is present in an amount of 5 to 80 wt %, by weight of the emulsion.

7. The process according to claim 6, wherein the aqueous solution comprising the water-soluble inorganic salt (a) is present, and the weight ratio of said aqueous solution to mixture (2) is from 50/50 to 10/90.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein water-soluble inorganic salt (a) is present in an amount of 4 to 50 wt %, surfactant (b) is present in an amount of 5-80 wt %, surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) is present in an amount of 0.01-10 wt %, and hydrophilic powder (d) is present in an amount of 5-50 wt %, all percentages by weight of the emulsion.

9. The process according to claim 8, wherein water-soluble inorganic salt (a) is present in an amount of 5 to 32 wt %, surfactant (b) is present in an amount of 10-60 wt %, surfactant-emulsifying agent (c) is present in an amount of 0.1-5 wt %, and hydrophilic powder (d) is present in an amount of 10-40 wt %, all percentages by weight of the emulsion.

10. The process according to claim 8, wherein water-soluble inorganic salt (a) is present in an amount of 6 to 20 wt % and surfactant (b) is present in an amount of 20-60 wt %, all percentages by weight of the emulsion.