United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,658,873 Bertsch-Frank Et Al
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USOO5658873A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,658,873 Bertsch-Frank et al. 45 Date of Patent: Aug. 19, 1997 54 COATED SODIUMPERCARBONATE 4,156,039 5/1979 Klebe ...................................... 427/215 PARTICLES, A PROCESS FORTHEIR PRODUCTION AND DETERGENT, FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS CLEANING AND BLEACHING 0487256 5/1992 European Pat. Off. COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING THEM 548432 4/1932 Germany. 24.17572 11/1974 Germany. 75 Inventors: Birgit Bertsch-Frank, Rheinfelden; 2458326 7/1975 Germany. Claas-Juergen Klasen, Freigericht; 2622610 12/1976 Germany. 2652776 5/1978 Germany. Thomas Lieser, Hapau; Klaus 2651442 6/1978 Germany. Mueller, Hasseroth; Martin 2800916 7/1978 Germany. Bewersdorf, Gelnhausen, all of 2712139 9/1978 Germany. Germany 28.00760 7/1979 Germany. 2810379 9/1979 Germany. (73) Assignee: Degussa Aktiengesellschaft, Frankfurt, 332.1082 12/1983 Germany. Germany 3720277 12/1988 Germany. 21 Appl. No.: 525,782 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 22 PCT Filed: Feb. 28, 1994 Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Vol. A4 86 PCT No.: PCT/EP94/00576 (1985), 5 Edition, pp. 363-280. Primary Examiner-Dennis Albrecht S371 Date: Oct. 2, 1995 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Beveridge, DeGrandi, Weilacher S 102(e) Date: Oct. 2, 1995 & Young, L.L.P. 87 PCT Pub. No.: WO94/24044 57 ABSTRACT PCT Pub. Date: Oct. 27, 1994 Sodium percarbonate is often used in the form of coated particles to increase its storage stability in detergents. 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Sodium percarbonate particles coated in accordance with the Apr. 10, 1993 DE Germany .......................... 43 1944. invention have a coating containing reaction products from (51) Int. Cl. ................ C11D 3/39; C11D 3/395; the reaction of a dialkali metal tetraborate or alkali metal C11D 17/06 pentaborate with aqueous hydrogen peroxide. Preferred 52 U.S. Cl. ........... 50/375; 252/186.26; 252/186.27; coating components are: perborax with the formula 423/275; 423/281; 423/328.2; 42.3/415.2: NaBO-H2O, where n=2 or 4. 510/441:510/442; 427/215 58) Field of Search ......................... 252/18626, 186.27; The coated sodium percarbonate particles are produced by 423/275,281,328.2, 415.2: 510/375, 441, coating the percarbonate particles using a solution contain 442; 427/215 ing the reaction products mentioned above. 56) References Cited Detergent, bleaching and cleaning compositions containing sodium percarbonate particles coated in accordance with the U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS invention are distinguished by very high stability in storage. 1978,953 10/1934 McKeown ............................... 423/281 3,327,684 6/1967 Pistor ...... 27 Claims, No Drawings 5,658,873 1. 2 COATED SODUMPERCARBONATE preparations. In this process, the sodium percarbonate is PARTICLES, A PROCESS FORTHER coated with a hydrophobic liquid organic compound to PRODUCTION AND DETERGENT, which sodium perborate powder is added. The disadvantage CLEANING AND BLEACHING of this process lies in the need to use a hydrophobic liquid COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING THEM 5 organic compound which has to be diluted with a lower alcohol in the interests of better handling. In addition, the DESCRIPTION quantities in which the coating chemicals are used, namely This invention relates to coated sodium percarbonate 5 to 20% by weight of sodium perborate and 5 to 10% by particles, of which the coating contains a peroxygen weight of hydrophobic organic compound, based on sodium containing boron compound which imparts high storage 10 percarbonate, are very high. stability to the sodium percarbonate. The present invention Coated sodium percarbonate particles consisting of a also relates to a process for the production of the coated sodium percarbonate core and a coating of sodiumperborate sodium percarbonate particles by application of one or more with the general formula NaBOHOn HO, where n is coating components, more particularly in the form of an <3, are known from DE-PS 2651 442. According to DE-PS aqueous solution containing them, to the sodium percarbon 15 27 12 139, the coating may additionally contain sodium ate to be coated and to detergent, cleaning and bleaching silicate and other water-binding substances. To produce the compositions containing coated sodium percarbonate par coated sodium percarbonate particles mentioned, sodium ticles according to the invention. percarbonate is first wetted with water oran aqueous sodium silicate solution in such a small quantity that the sodium Sodium percarbonate (2 NaCO3H2O) is used as an perborate is not converted into the tetrahydrate and is active oxygen component in detergents, bleaches and clean subsequently covered with anhydrous sodium perborate. A ing preparations. In view of the inadequate storage stability further development of the process outlined above is of sodium percarbonate in a humid environment and in the described in DE-PS 28 10 379 and comprises spraying presence of various components of detergents and cleaning sodium percarbonate with an aqueous solution of sodium preparations, sodium percarbonate has to be stabilized 25 against the loss of active oxygen (O). A key principle for perborate containing 50 to 500 g of sodium perborate stabilization is to surround the sodium percarbonate particles tetrahydrate per liter of solution at 40° to 60° C. and with a with a coating of stabilizing components. Thus, it is known sodium silicate solution and then completely or partly that sodium percarbonate can be coated with paraffin or removing the water introduced. As disclosed inhitherto unpublished German patent appli polyethylene glycol. Unfortunately, adequate long-term sta 30 bility is not achieved in this way, in addition to which cation P 43 06 399.3, the process described above can be solubility in water is undesirably reduced. Even the appli considerably simplified by washing sodium percarbonate produced by the wet method with a solution containing cation of a coating of alkali metal silicate to the sodium sodium perborate (NaBO-HO) in a solid/liquid separator percarbonate particles, as proposed in DE-OS 2652776, after at least partial separation of the mother liquor. Despite does not lead to adequate stabilization and, in addition, 35 introduces an unwanted content of insoluble constituents. In the small quantity of coating required, high active oxygen the processes known from DE-OS 24 17572 and DE-OS 26 stability is achieved in storage of the sodium percarbonate in 22 610, sodium sulfate and sodium carbonate or sodium admixture with a typical Zeolite-containing detergent tower sulfate, sodium carbonate and sodium silicate are used as powder. coating components. In these processes, a solution of the A coating containing perborate monohydrate or tetrahy coating components is sprayed onto sodium percarbonate 40 drate has the advantage over a coating of sodium percar particles in a fluidized bed dryer. Adequate stabilization bonate with borates or boric acid that the active oxygen requires a large quantity of coating material which in turn content of the sodium percarbonate particles is hardly leads to a correspondingly large reduction in the active affected, oxygen content. 45 The problem addressed by the present invention was Although it is known from DE-PS 28 00 916 that a further to improve the stabilization of sodium percarbonate coating material containing at least one boron compound using new peroxygen-containing boron compounds and to from the group consisting of metaboric acid, orthoboric acid provide new coated sodium percarbonate particles which, and tetraboric acid can be used for stabilizing sodium for the same boron content, would guarantee higher active percarbonate, the stabilizing effect obtained in this way is 50 oxygen stability in storage in admixture with detergent described as inadequate in DE-OS 33 21 082, as demon constituents than known sodium percarbonate particles hav strated in the Comparison Examples. Instead, sodium per ing a perborate-containing coating. carbonate with a shell containing sodium borate is described Accordingly, the present invention relates to coated as advantageous. However, as the inventors of the present sodium percarbonate particles consisting of a core of, application discovered when copying the Examples of 55 essentially, sodium percarbonate and a coating containing at DE-OS 33 21 082, the borate and, optionally, other coating least one peroxygen-containing boron compound, character components-to achieve adequate stability-had to be ized in that one or more reaction products from the reaction present in the coating in such a quantity that the available of a dialkali metal tetraborate or alkali metal pentaborate active oxygen content of the sodium percarbonate thus with aqueous hydrogen peroxide are present as the stabilized was always below 14% by weight. A further 60 peroxygen-containing boron compound. development of stabilization using borates is described in The core of the coated particles consists essentially of EP-A O 487 256, although the coating process disclosed sodium percarbonate. By "essentially" is meant that the therein involves at least two stages and is therefore techni sodium percarbonate may contain secondary constituents cally complicated. from its production, such as for example soda and Small Finally, DE-AS 24 58326 describes a process for stabi 65 quantities of sodium chloride and also crystallization lizing sodium percarbonate, the storage stability of the pure retarders, for example a metaphosphate or a polycarboxylic product being increased, even in admixture with cleaning acid