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US-12618021-B2 - Degreasing composition comprising an anionic surfactant mixture

US12618021B2US 12618021 B2US12618021 B2US 12618021B2US-12618021-B2

Abstract

The invention pertains to degreasing compositions, process for producing and uses thereof. The composition comprises: from about 4% to about 16% by weight of the composition of a first anionic surfactant having HLB value less than 12; from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the composition of a second anionic surfactant having HLB value more than 12; from about 1% to about 4% by weight of the composition of a weak acid; from about 2% to about 6% by weight of the composition of urea; from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the composition of trisodium phosphate; about 1% to about 4% of the composition, of an inorganic base; and from about 60% by weight to about 90% by weight of the composition of water.

Inventors

  • Wojciech BABINSKI

Assignees

  • Wojciech BABINSKI

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20210621

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A degreasing composition comprising: A) from about 4% to about 16% by weight of the composition of a first anionic surfactant having an HLB value less than 12; B) from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the composition of a second anionic surfactant having an HLB value more than 12; C) from about 1% to about 4% by weight of the composition of a weak acid; D) from about 2% to about 6% by weight of the composition of urea; E) from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the composition of trisodium phosphate; F) from about 1% to about 4% by weight of the composition of an inorganic base; and G) from about 60% to about 90% by weight of the composition of water.
  2. 2 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the first anionic surfactant is a linear C9-14 alkylbenzene sulfonic acid or a mixture of two or more C9-14 alkylbenzene sulfonic acids.
  3. 3 . The composition of claim 2 , wherein the first surfactant is dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid.
  4. 4 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the second anionic surfactant is an alkali metal salt of C10-14 alkyl-polyether-sulfonic acid having 2-8 ether units.
  5. 5 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the second anionic surfactant is sodium lauryl ether sulfate having 2-6 ether units, and having the chemical formula:
  6. 6 . The composition of claim 5 , wherein the second anionic surfactant is sodium laureth-3-sulfate or sodium laureth-2-sulfate.
  7. 7 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic base is NaOH.
  8. 8 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the weak acid is boric acid.
  9. 9 . The composition of claim 1 , comprising: A) about 8% by weight of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid; B) about 2% by weight of sodium laureth sulfate; C) about 2% by weight of boric acid; D) about 3% by weight of urea; E) about 2% by weight of trisodium phosphate; F) about 2% by weight of sodium hydroxide; and G) about 80% by weight of water.
  10. 10 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition has an HLB value of about 10.
  11. 11 . The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is in the form of an emulsion and/or a microemulsion.
  12. 12 . A process for preparing the composition of claim 1 , the process comprising the steps of: a) mixing the weak acid with a first portion of the total amount of water in the composition at a temperature of about 20-50° C. until the weak acid is dissolved; b) gradually adding the first anionic surfactant to the mixture; c) gradually adding the second anionic surfactant to the mixture; d) allowing the mixture to stand after the addition of the surfactants; e) adding a second portion by weight of the total amount of water in the composition to the mixture, the water having a temperature of about 20-50° C.; f) adding the trisodium phosphate and urea to the mixture; g) adding the inorganic base (as a 10-15% solution in water); and h) allowing the mixture to stand at room temperature to allow air bubbles to escape.
  13. 13 . The process of claim 12 , wherein the first portion of water is about 25 to 45% of the total amount of the water.
  14. 14 . The process of claim 12 , wherein the second portion of water is about 25 to 45% of the total amount of the water.
  15. 15 . The process of claim 12 , wherein step a) comprises adding the weak acid to the water provided in a reactor.
  16. 16 . The process of claim 12 , wherein step b) comprises mixing while the first anionic surfactant is being added followed by additional mixing for up to about 30 minutes.
  17. 17 . The process of claim 12 , wherein step c) comprises mixing while the second anionic surfactant is being added followed by additional mixing for up to about 30 minutes.
  18. 18 . The process of claim 12 , wherein in step d) the mixture is allowed to stand for up to 60 minutes, and in step h) the mixture is allowed to stand for up to 24 hr.
  19. 19 . A method of preparing a degreasing composition, the method comprising: adding, into a chemical reactor, about 600 liters of water having a temperature of about 25-35° C.; mixing, into the chemical reactor, about 30 kg of boric acid for about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes, until the boric acid dissolves; mixing, into the chemical reactor, from about 125 liters to about 130 liters of alkylbenzene sulfonic acid for about 30 minutes; mixing, into the chemical reactor, about 30 liters of sodium laureth sulfate for about 30 minutes; letting the reaction mixture stand still for about 60 minutes; mixing, into the chemical reactor, about 500 liters of water having a temperature of about 30° C., about 30 kg of trisodium phosphate and about 50 kg of urea; adding, into the chemical reactor, from about 250 liters to about 300 liters of an about 10% solution of sodium hydroxide; allowing the reaction mixture to stand still for about 24 hours to allow air to escape contents of the chemical reactor.
  20. 20 . A method of cleaning an oil-stained surface, the method comprising: applying the degreasing composition as defined in claim 1 on the contaminated surface to form a composition-oil mixture; and removing the degreasing composition-oil mixture from the surface, and optionally separating the composition from the removed oil.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2021/066823 filed Jun. 21, 2021, claiming priority based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/127,226 filed Dec. 18, 2020. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to the field of cleaning/degreasing compositions, in particular to the compositions for cleaning oil stains from contaminated substrates, surfaces or areas and/or remediation of oil/hydrocarbon spills from soil, and separation of oil from particulate solids. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Several oil degreasing formulations capable of removing oil stains from various surfaces are known. Typically, oil removal compositions contain halogens and so-called “alkaline builders”. Other compositions include a mixture of detergents and water used to remove oil stains. Still others have developed machines and procedures that may be useful for removing oil stains from concrete surfaces, including grinding clay-sand mixtures to concrete surfaces. However, such machines and procedures can be difficult to use and costly. Another way to reduce contaminants is through sorbents that bind crude oil. Non-aqueous-based cleaning fluids are also used to clean unwanted oil from substrates, for example, to remove grease spots from clothing or other fabrics. However, these cleaning fluids tend to dilute and spread the oil, as opposed to fully removing it from the substrate. Furthermore, many of these non-aqueous-based cleaning fluids are toxic. Effective methods of cleaning spilled oil and fuel from sand, gravel, and soil are also needed. In addition, drilling operations often employ oil-based drilling fluids which contaminate the drill cuttings. The disposal of drilling fluid-contaminated drill cuttings is strictly regulated, and methods of cleaning the cuttings for disposal are also needed. Conventionally a base oil washes or detergent washes have been used to clean contaminated soil and/or drill cuttings. A base oil washes and detergent washes comprise contacting the contaminated soil or drill cuttings with a base oil, or an aqueous surfactant solution, respectively. The base oil and detergent wash processes are typically capable of reducing the oil content to only about 5 to about 20 percent. Methods of biological removal of crude oil have been employed, which, on the one hand, are expensive to use, and on the other hand—irretrievably destroy spilled crude oil. Industrial detergents comprising blends of a surfactant such as sodium salt of alkyl aryl sulfonic acid and a solvent such as naphtha have also been used. It is well known that only a portion of the oil can be recovered from oil-bearing subterranean formations/reservoirs as a result of the natural energy of the formations/reservoirs. According to scientists, up to 60% of oil is left in oil reservoirs and cannot be recovered with existing technologies. Several secondary recovery techniques may be used to force more oil out of the reservoir, the simplest method of which is by direct replacement with another medium, usually water or a gas such as CO2. CO2 is expensive to capture, process & distribute, as well as very highly corrosive, and is therefore not attractive from the point of capital efficiency, i.e.,—in terms of investment & life cycle cost). Another technology that may be used is hydrocarbon gas (however availability of miscible hydrocarbon gas is not sufficient). Current technologies therefore provide marginal incremental oil recovery from original oil in reservoirs. Thus, there is a need to develop degreasing/cleaning compositions that would be economical, environmentally friendly, and effective for removing oil stains from various substrates/surfaces, cleaning particulate solids such as soil, drill cuttings, etc., and/or recovering oil, such as petroleum hydrocarbons, from soil, and which through their biodegradability, minimize the environmental impact, and do not destroy the hydrocarbon chain, allowing the majority of the spill to be recovered in an environmentally safe manner. The demand for this type of composition grows noticeably with the economic development of the world, increasing oil production and potential environmental disasters. This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide degreasing compositions, process for producing and uses thereof. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a degreasing composition, which comprises: from about 4% to about 16% by weight of the composition of a first anionic surfactant having HLB value less than 12; from about 1% to about 5% by weight of the composition o