Taking into account environmental factors, the product is easily soluble in cold water, has lower foam and stronger suspending ability than existing detergents, and is suitable for use in washing machines operating at 40°C and low water consumption. Choosing a product formula at the molecular scale is the key to achieving the desired product function. A surfactant with a low critical micelle concentration and a Kraft value lower than the washing temperature must be added to the washing powder to remove hydrophobic substances and perform well at low concentration and low washing temperature. The product should also include bleach. Traditional bleaching agents, such as peroxy compounds, cannot be used because their oxidizing power is incompatible with surfactants, and they are not particularly effective in cold water. In this case, an inactivated bleaching agent like sodium perborate is a convenient option. Sodium perborate will be converted into active bleaching agent when dissolved in water. Other ingredients, namely bleach activator, brightener and fragrance, must also be added to the product. In addition to the formula, the structural characteristics of the product defined in the micro-scale also determine its end-use performance. In order to achieve rapid dissolution in water and good flow properties, the size of the powder particles should be kept small, within a narrow distribution range, and greater than the minimum value. If the particle size is lower than the minimum value, particle cohesion may occur. The particle size distribution in the range of 300-900 μm is ideal. High bulk density powder should be achieved by controlling the porosity of individual particles-the porosity of the particles is about 5% to ensure the bulk density of about 800kg/m3. The detergent manufacturing process defined on a macro scale involves four main operations. First, the product ingredients are mixed into a slurry, and then spray-dried to form a powder. Because the bulk density of this powder is very low, it must be processed in a high-shear mixer where shear is applied to break up porous spray-dried particles to form smaller and fewer porous particles. With the help of a liquid binder, the desired particle size distribution is achieved by agglomerating small particles. The final drying step is to remove excess liquid. Every operation involved in the manufacturing process needs to be controlled to achieve the desired product structure. For example, the air/liquid flow ratio, the relative air velocity of the nozzle and the liquid viscosity are the key operating variables in the spray drying process, which determine the particle size characteristics of the spray-dried powder. The detergent manufacturing process integrates a site with multiple factories connected to suppliers, warehouses and distribution centers, which is ultimately part of a commercial enterprise (megascale) driven by global business considerations.
While adopting a multi-scale approach, the implementation of chemical product engineering needs to extend chemical engineering to traditionally researched topics (for example, rheology, powder technology, and materials science), as well as strong multidisciplinary cooperation between chemical engineers. Scientists and other professionals. According to Westberg and Subrahmanian, success requires a mix of many talents: business, fine arts, social sciences, basic sciences (such as chemistry, physics, and biology), and chemical engineering techniques, all of which can be combined with quality management and quality Engineering tools
The chemical engineering community has begun to recognize the necessity of chemical product engineering as a part of undergraduate courses. As Villadsen pointed out, it is a major mistake to exclude chemical engineers from the potential competitive advantage of chemical products due to improper curriculum design.
In recent years, great efforts have been made in the effective teaching of chemical product engineering disciplines.( click here to learn more about chemical ) Cussler and Moggridge published the first textbook devoted to chemical product design, and some recent editions of traditional craft design books also include this topic as a chapter. Many different universities now offer courses related to chemical product engineering.
