Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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EC00031W0
STABILIZED CONCENTRATED CLEANING SOLUTIONS AND
METHODS OF PREPARING THE SAME
FIELD
The invention is directed to stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions, and
to a method of preparing them.
BACKGROUND
Commercial cleaning solutions that effectively clean, sanitize and disinfect
are of critical importance in many industrial and institutional settings and
indeed are ubiquitous in healthcare, food manufacture, educational,
governmental, agricultural, water treatment, etc facilities. Due at least in
part to cost considerations, these cleaning solutions are often manufactured
and sold in concentrated form and then diluted at a point of use to their
usable concentration.
Many of the users of these solutions keep inventory on hand and, as a
result, concentrated cleaning solution may sit for an extended period of time
prior to use. However, the shelf stability of the concentrated solutions has
proven to be limiting in some applications. Although clear when produced,
the concentrated solutions can tend to partially decompose, or otherwise
deteriorate, to produce visible precipitates when stored for long periods of
time. Given the intended use of these products, such visible residue is
typically at least aesthetically unacceptable to the customer, and indeed, the
precipitates, or precursors thereof, can react with the active components of
the concentrated cleaning solution, thereby potentially reducing the efficacy
thereof.
According to one theory, the production of such residue is caused or at least
facilitated by commercially acceptable levels of impurities present in the raw
materials used in the manufacture of the concentrated commercial cleaning
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solutions. Indeed, many of these raw materials are available at various
costs and associated levels of purity, i.e., a raw material solution with
fewer
impurities may be obtained for greater cost. At some point, the cost for a
substantially pure raw material may so erode the profit margin of a product
that the product would not be commercially viable to produce. Additionally,
in some countries, environmental regulations may limit or prohibit the use of
manufacturing processes that would produce substantially pure raw
materials. In this instance then, even if a manufacturer would be willing to
pay more for a raw material with fewer impurities, such a raw material may
simply not be commercially available.
Even in those instances when such concentrated cleaning solutions are
used relatively quickly, visible precipitates can yet be formed upon dilution
of the concentrated cleaning solution to its usable concentration. Any such
precipitates are believed to result from impurities introduced by the diluent
and the reaction thereof with components of the cleaning solutions. Even
though the water quality of the final user is out of the control of the
manufacturer, concentrated cleaning solutions would desirably be provided
that could resist or prevent the formation of visible precipitates upon
dilution
to a usable concentration.
And so, concentrated cleaning solution manufactures have tried several
approaches to reduce or eliminate the formation of these visible precipitates
in their concentrated solutions. One approach, described in copending PCT
application serial no. PCT/EP2006/061793, involves adding a combination
of a phosphono compound and a silicate to the concentrated cleaning
solution. Indeed, this approach works very well. However, the utilization of
two chemicals may represent an undesirable cost and/or time expense to
the manufacturer.
In order to enhance the convenience and customer satisfaction associated
with concentrated cleaning solutions, the solutions would desirably be
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produced so that long-term storage thereof is possible without visible =
deterioration and/or other change in product quality. Desirably,
concentrated cleaning solutions could also be rendered more shelf stable in
a manner thét is more cost and/or time efficient than previously described.
SUMMARY
concentrated cleaning solutions are provided. The solutions comprise from
1 wt% to about 40 wt% of a source of hydroxide ions, from about 5 wt% to
about 80 wt% of a source of hypochlorite ions, and from about 0.0001 wt%
to about 2.00 wt% chelating agent. In certain preferred embodiments, the
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chelating agent. The chelating agent may be EDTA, MGDA, NTA, IDS,
polyacrylate or combinations of these. In certain embodiments, EDTA, =
MGDA or NTA are preferred.
In yet another aspect or the present invention, a method of stabilizing a
concentrated cleaning solution comprising a source of hypochlorite ions is
provided. The method comprises providing such a solution, providing a
chelating agent, and adding the chelating agent to the cleaning solution.
The chelating agent(s) are desirably added to the cleaning solution in
amounts so that the concentration of chelating agent provided in the
cleaning solution ranges from about 0.0001 wt% to about 2.00 wt%, more
typically from about 0.0002 wt% to about 0.5 wt%, and preferably may be
present in amounts as low as from about 0.0005 wt% to about 0.05 wt%.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention provides stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions,
and methods of preparing these solutions. It was recently discovered that
concentrated cleaning solutions comprising at least one hypochlorite ion
source can tend to form visible precipitates upon prolonged storage, or upon
the addition of a diluent comprising impurities. It is believed that the
precipitates, generally found to be iron oxide, nickel oxide, copper oxide
and/or cobalt oxide, were resulting from the reaction of heavy metal
impurities in the starting raw materials or diluent, as the case may be, with
the oxidant in the concentrated cleaning solutions. If enough impurities are
present, and react with enough of the oxidant, the efficacy of the
concentrated cleaning solutions may be reduced. Even if the efficacy
remains acceptable, the presence of visible precipitates may be
commercially unacceptable in products intended to be used in cleaning
applications.
Stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions according to the present
invention do not form visible amounts of precipitates after storage at or =
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about room temperature for periods of at least 10 weeks, 3 months, 6
months or even up to one year. This effect is provided via the inclusion of a
small amount(s) of one or more chelating agents to the concentrated
cleaning solutions. This result is surprising, because as described in
copending PCT application serial no. PCT/EP2006/061793, these same
chelating agents were not effective at reducing or preventing the formation
of precipitates in these solutions in greater amounts. While not wishing to
be bound by any theory, it is believed that at higher concentrations of the
chelating agents, greater amounts of heavy metal/chelating agent
complexes are formed than are soluble in aqueous solution at storage
temperatures, and thus, precipitates will form, albeit precipitates comprising
complexed heavy metal impurities.
As shown in the example, at the lower concentrations now employed in the
solutions and methods described herein, the chelating agents are extremely
effective at reducing or even eliminating the amount of visible precipitates
that may form in the cleaning solutions upon prolonged storage. Further,
these results are achieved by and large with the use of only one readily
commercially available, relatively safe chelating agent in very small
amounts, representing a cost and time savings over other known methods
of stabilizing these types of cleaning solutions, as well as providing
significant advantages in storage and handling safety.
As this phrase is used herein, and as is known in the art, chelating agents
are polydentate ligands that reversibly bind to a metal ion typically via two
or
more hydrogen or ionic bonds. Examples of preferred chelating agents for
use in the stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions and methods of
preparing them include ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA),
methylglycinediacetic acid (MG DA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA),
iminodisuccinate (IDS), polyacrylate, or combinations of these.
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Surprisingly, and although higher concentrations of the chelating agents do
not necessarily provide better, or even the same, beneficial results, very low
concentrations of the chelating agents are very effective at providing the
concentrated cleaning solutions with the desired stability, i.e., the
reduction
or even elimination of visible precipitates upon prolonged storage, or upon
the addition of a diluent comprising copper, iron, nickel or cobalt
impurities.
More particularly, amounts of from about 0.0001 wt% to about 2.00 wt%,
more typically from about 0.0002 wt% to about 0.5 wt%, and even in
amounts as low as from about 0.0005 wt% to about 0.05 wt% have been
found capable of providing the concentrated cleaning solutions with the
desired stability.
Stated another way, and when the chelating agent is, e.g., EDTA provided
as a 38 wt% solution, amounts ranging from about 0.4 ppm to about 7600
ppm, or from about 0/6 ppm to about 1900 ppm or even from about 1.9
ppm to about 190 ppm, or may be used.
Cost/efficiency considerations may dictate that the no more chelating agent
than that required to achieve the desired effect should be used, and indeed,
at higher concentrations the chelating agent(s) may not be effective at
reducing or eliminating the visible prebipitates that may occur upon storage
for prolonged periods of time. For these reasons, amounts of the chelating
agent greater than 2.5 wt% based upon the total weight of the stabilized
concentrated cleaning solution, should be avoided.
Concentrated cleaning solutions that benefit from application of the present
method include those comprising an amount of hypochlorite ions. Sources
of hypochlorite ions include, but are not limited to, chlorine, hypochlorite
salts, chloramine T, dichloramine T, trichloroisocyanuric acid and any of
these, or combinations thereof are suitable for use in the present stabilized
concentrated cleaning solutions. Preferably, the stabilized concentrated
cleaning solutions comprise one or more hypochlorite salts as the source of
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hypochlorite ions, and calcium hypochlorite, potassium hypochlorite and/or
sodium hypochlorite are particularly preferred. The source of hypochlorite
ions in typical concentrated cleaning solutions ranges from about 5 to about
80 wt%, or.from about 20 wt % to about 70 wt%, and more particularly from
about 40 wt% to about 60 wt%, and these concentration ranges are suitable
for use in the stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions of the present
invention.
The bactericidal effect of such concentrated cleaning solutions is provided
by hypochlorite ions that are, in turn, formed via the dissociation of
hypochlorite salts or hypochlorous acid in water. Hypochlorous acid, in turn,
can be formed when chlorine reacts with water in amounts that depend
upon the pH of the solution:
Cl 2 + H20 HOCI + HCL
The equilibrium of this reaction, and thus the amount of hypochlorous acid
produced, depends on the pH of the solution. In alkaline solution, more
hypochlorous acid is produced thereby increasing the bactericidal effect that
can be seen.
Accordingly, the stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions of the present
invention are also desirably alkaline, and include a sufficient amount of a
hydroxide ion source to render them so.
Typically, hydroxide ions are provided in cleaning solutions via the inclusion
of one or more caustic, or base, solutions. Such solutions are well known in
the art, and any of these may be used, with preference given to sodium
hydroxide and potassium hydroxide for their ready availability and ease of
use. The source of hydroxide ions is typically included in conventional
concentrated cleaning solutions in amounts of from about 1 wt% to about 40
wt%, preferably from about 5 wt% to about 35 wt%, or more typically from
about 15 wt% to about 30 wt% of one or more hydroxide ion sources, and
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these ranges again provide a cleaning solution that would desirably be
stabilized against the formation of visible precipitates and thus could
benefit
from application of the method of the present invention.
For example, then, particular stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions
according to the present invention may comprise from about 15 wt% to
about 30 wt% hydroxide ion source, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium
hydroxide, from about 40 wt% to about 60 wt% hypochlorite ion source,
such as sodium hypochlorite, and from about 0.0005 wt% to about 0.05
wt%chelating agent, such as EDTA.
Additionally, stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions according to the
present invention may comprise any of the other components typically
included in conventional concentrated cleaning solutions. For example,
many such solutions include one or more sequestrants, surfactants,
corrosion inhibitors, builders, solubilizers, solvents, other additives, or
combinations of these.
Sequestrants are typically included in cleaning solutions to reduce or
prevent water hardness scaling. Examples of suitable sequestrants that
may be included in the present stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions if
desired, include, polyphosphates, organic phosponates, citrates, lactic acid,
combinations of these and the like.
One or more surfactants may also be included in the stabilized concentrated
cleaning solutions to enhance the cleaning performance thereof. Although
any type of surfactant, i.e., anionic, cationic, non-ionic or amphoteric, may
be added to the present concentrated cleaning solutions without
detrimentally impacting the stability thereof, anionic and/or non-ionic
surfactants are particularly appropriate for inclusion therein since the
stabilized concentrated cleaning solutions may typically be alkaline.
=
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Examples of anionic surfactants include, but are not limited to, alkyl arene
sulfonates, such as alkyl benzene sulfonates, alkyl naphthalene sulfonates,
alkylsulfonates, alpha olefin sulfonates or alkyl sulfates. One example of a
particularly preferred anionic surfactant that may be included in the present
stabilized solutions is sodium lauryl sulfate.
Examplary non-ionic surfactants include ethoxylated and/or propoxylated
fatty alcohols or fatty amines, alkyl polyglucosides and aminoxides, or
combinations thereof. Aminoxides are preferred, and examples of these
include coconut alkyl dimethylamine oxide and lauryl dimethylamine oxide.
Cationic surfactants may also be included in the present cleaning solutions.
Cationic surfactants believed to be capable of providing some cleaning
activity when in alkaline solution are exemplified by the quaternary
ammonium salts. Preferred quaternary ammonium salts may be saturated
or unsaturated and are those derived from trialkanol amines esterified with
fatty acids and then quaternized with appropriate alkylation agents.
Amounts of surfactant from about 1 wt% to 30 wt%, preferably from about 2
wt% to about 20 wt% and most preferably from about 4 wt% to about 15
wt% based upon the total weight of the stabilized concentrated solution may
be employed.
Solubilizers, typically act to facilitate the dispersion of organic
components,
including any of the non-critical components such as surfactants, in
aqueous solution, and one or more may also optionally be included in the
stabilized cleaning solutions. Examples of solubilizers include sodium,
potassium, ammonium and alkanol ammonium salts of sulfonates of xylene,
toluene, ethylbenzoate, isopropylbenzene, naphthalene or alkyl
naphthalene, phosphate esters of alkoxylated alkyl phenols, phosphate
esters of alkoxylated alcohols and sodium, potassium and ammonium salts
of alkyl sarcosinates, and mixtures of these. If desirably included, the one
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or more solubilizer(s) may be present in amounts of from about 1 to about
35 wt%, or from about 5 to about 25 wt% and more preferably from about 9
to about 20 wt%.
The stabilized concentrated cleaning solution may also optionally contain
one or more of other components commonly used in cleaning solutions
including, but not limited to, builders, solvents, and other additives.
Amounts of up to about 20%, or up to about 15 wt%, or even up to about
10% are suitable for each of these.
Examplary builders that may be included in the stabilized concentrated
cleaning solutions are sodium carbonate, sodium sesquicarbonate, sodium
sulfate, sodium hydrogencarbonate, phosphates like pentasodium
triphosphate, or its salt, citric acid or its salt, or combinations of these.
The present invention will now be further illustrated by the following non-
limiting examples.
EXAMPLE 1
Table 1 shows the storage stability of several exemplary stabilized
concentrated cleaning solutions prepared in accordance with the present
invention, as well as several comparative solutions. Each solution was
prepared by simply mixing the components in the order and amounts
indicated. Further, all amounts indicated are weight percents, based on
the total weight of the solution.
Once prepared, the solutions were stored at or about room temperature
(25 C) and visual evaluations taken at 10 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 1
year. The evaluations were scaled as follows: 0 = no precipitates, 1 =
minimal precipitates, commercially acceptable, 2 = some precipitates, not
commercially acceptable, 3 = many precipitates, not commercially
acceptable.
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Table 1
Formula Comp Test Comp Test 2 Comp Test 3 Comp
Test 4 Comp Test Test
1 1 2 3 4 5 5 5a
Demi H20 46 45.9 24.3 23.95 38 37.95 18 17.95
24.5 24.4 23.5
5 5
EDTA 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
. -
SokalanTM 1
CP45'
BayhibitTM 2 2 0.7 0.7 7 7 2 2 0.5 0.5
0.5
AM(60%)
NaOH (50%) 17 17 15 15 35 35 10 10 5 5 5
KOH(50%) 10 10
Na0C1 35 35 60 60 20 20 60 60 70 70 70
(17%)
Precipitates 2 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 0
1 Sokalan CP45 is a polyacrylate and acts as a dispersant in the
exemplified
solutions
2 Bayhibit AM is a polyphosphonate and acts as a sequestrant in the
exemplified
solutions
As is shown, 0.05% EDTA effectively prevents the formation of visible levels
of precipitates in all of the tested solutions.
EXAMPLE 2
Table 2 shows the storage stability of several exemplary stabilized
concentrated cleaning solutions prepared in accordance with the present
invention, as well as a comparative solution. Each solution was prepared by
simply mixing the components in the order and amounts indicated.
Further, all amounts indicated are weight percents, based on the total
weight of the solution.
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Once prepared, the solutions were stored at or about room temperature
(25 C) and visual evaluations taken at 10 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 1
year. The evaluations were scaled as follows: 0 = no precipitates, 1 =
minimal precipitates, commercially acceptable, 2 = some precipitates, not
commercially acceptable, 3 = many precipitates, not commercially
acceptable.
Table 2
Formula 1(Test) 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11
Demi H20 - 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.4 24 23.5 23
22.5 22
EDTA 0 0.0001 0.001 0.005 0.05 0.1 0.5 1.0 1.5 2 2.5
Sokalan 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 o o 0
CP 45
Bayhibit- 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
AM (60%)
NaOH 23
23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23
(50%)
Na0C1 50
50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50
Precipitates 3 1 0 0 0 0 o 1 1 1
2
As shown, at all but one concentration of EDTA, visible precipitates were
substantially reduced, or even eliminated, as compared to test solution 1.
Solution 11, with an EDTA concentration of 2.5% showed an unacceptable
level of precipitates.
