CREATING TOMORROW’S SOLUTIONS SYSTEMATIC FOAM CONTROL SILFOAM® STRIKES A BALANCE BETWEEN INNOVATION AND EFFICIENCY Contents Introduction 3 Textiles 9 Detergents and Cleaning Agents 17 Pulp 27 Life Sciences 31 Water Treatment 41 Petrochemicals 45 Dispersion Manufacturers 53 Glossary 57 WACKER at a glance 59 PULPSIL®, SILFAR®, SILFOAM® and WACKER® are registered trademarks of Wacker Chemie AG. SYSTEMATIC OPTIMIZATION – FOR EFFECTIVE, RELIABLE AND ECONOMICAL FOAM CONTROL 3 Silicone-based antifoam agents from WACKER offer an effective and flexible alternative. Get the benefit of optimum performance and stable product quality. Plenty of foam means good washing WACKER is a market leader in silicone petroleum and dispersion manufacturers. If you wish, we will also work together properties. At least, that’s what most antifoam agents. Our SILFOAM®, SILFAR®, In laboratories and technical centers all with you to implement innovative formula- consumers think. They associate it with PULPSIL® and WACKER® AK Silicone Fluid around the world, WACKER specialists are tion ideas. cleanliness, conditioning properties, lines create a highly efficient product port- continually refining and developing our a fragrance or perhaps simply fun. For folio that is not only remarkable for its depth products. See for yourself how powerful our range many foam-intensive industrial process- and breadth, but also meets the demands of solutions is and discover the benefits es, however, foam is disruptive and the of markets all around the world. Our foam- For each of these areas, the WACKER of systematically optimizing your foam- cause of various production problems. control systems are general-purpose, ready- antifoam agent portfolio has a foam-control intensive processes. to-use products that are easy to process, system that is ideal for you – regardless Foam can lower process efficiency and economical, and individually tailored to your of whether you mainly use liquid or solid reliability and impair product properties. demands. media, or whether you want a compound, The end result is lower productivity, poorer a self-dispersing product or an emulsion. economics and inferior product quality. When you choose WACKER antifoam agents So, how much foam does a process or to control your foam, you are choosing an If you have any questions about our prod- product need in order to be effective, exceptionally innovative problem-solving ucts and applications, fields of use and and how can it be regulated effectively? system. We already offer a comprehensive advantages, please contact our experts, The smart way to find out is to use a range of custom solutions for many industries, who will gladly take the time to provide you high-quality, silicone-based antifoam such as textiles, detergents and cleaning with expert and individual advice based agent from WACKER. agents, pulp, life sciences, water treatment, on a practical analysis of your systems. 4 SILFOAM® Antifoam Agents – Integrated, Sustainable Solutions Do you have a particular foaming problem SILFOAM® SD SILFOAM® SP WACKER® AK in production? We will supply a custom Self-Dispersing Silicone Antifoam Agents Silicone Antifoam Powders Silicone Fluids antifoam agent to help resolve it. • Combination of antifoam agent com- • The powder-form antifoam agents • Are characterized by good antifoam pounds with organic active agents are specifically intended for powder properties in water-free, non-polar systems And that’s not all: our foam-control systems and auxiliaries products, e.g. powder detergents. • Suitable for applications in which compat- show their true strengths not only through • Disperse spontaneously in contact ibility with other substances is not required their universality and compatibility, but also with foaming formulations PULPSIL® in their effectiveness, diversity, versatility and • Show particularly good distribution Silicone Antifoam Compounds and Emul- ongoing technical development. and compatibility sions, as well as Silicone Surfactants • Specifically developed for use in the SILFOAM® SC SILFOAM® SE pulp and paper industry Silicone Antifoam Compounds Silicone Antifoam Emulsions • Oily, viscous, opaque or slightly cloudy • O/W emulsions of antifoam agent com- SILFAR® liquids pounds with an active ingredient content Silicone Product Range (Dimethicones, • Mostly used in systems containing little of 5 to 50% Simethicones, Antifoam Agents, Active or no water • This product form is mainly used for water- Substances and Auxiliaries) • Compounds can be used neat or mixed based formulations and applications • Specially developed for use in the with suitable formulation components pharmaceutical industry and related such as surfactants. life sciences 5 Service Solutions – Flexible and Customized Individual problems require individual Our experts will be glad to assist you in customers’ needs. WACKER production sites legal requirements in a manner that suits the service solutions – these are provided solving this problem. You have the oppor- in Germany, the USA, Brazil, Japan, India market and customers. by our teams of experts. tunity to perform detailed compatibility and China ensure that SILFOAM®, SILFAR®, tests on your system with several products PULPSIL® and WACKER® AK foam-control * Foam-preventive substances are known as “antifoam agents,” foam-destroying agents are called “defoamers.” SILFOAM® To help you choose the antifoam agent to determine the optimum WACKER anti- systems have the same high quality standard foam-control systems are multifunctional, i.e. they act as antifoam that best suits your needs from our wide foam agent. and breadth of applications worldwide. agents or defoamers, or perform both functions depending on the application. product range, we recommend you start All production sites have their own technical by deciding whether you require a liquid As a company that thinks globally and centers for service and support. That allows or a solid, a water-free or a water-based acts locally, WACKER has oriented us to adapt to local circumstances concerning product. The main criterion is whether the its production and services strictly to its application variants, delivery quantities and WACKER antifoam agent is compatible with your formulation. Selection Flow Chart Since the silicone-based antifoam usually has different solubility and dispersibility from SILFOAM® SC compound solid those of the formulation components, it is SILFOAM® SP powder Compatibility SILFOAM® SD self-dispersing necessary to choose a largely compatible critical SILFOAM® SE emulsions antifoam product*. In contrast, relatively Medium liquid incompatible antifoam agents can be very to be defoamed water- efficient and so a balance must be struck (= customer system) containing between efficiency and compatibility. SILFOAM® SC compound Compatibility SILFOAM® SE emulsions liquid SILFOAM® SD self-dispersing not critical SILFOAM® SC compound water-free WACKER® AK silicone fluids 6 SILFOAM® Antifoam Agents – Application and Use Correct handling of foam-control systems Metering • Viscous antifoam emulsions can be Storage Stability will ensure you get the best results. • The optimum dosage of SILFOAM® diluted by adding successive amounts • Silicone antifoam compounds resist high Some important aspects of using WACKER antifoam agents in customer systems of cold water in ratios of 1:1 – 1:10 and low temperatures. We recommend antifoam agents are discussed below: is determined by preliminary tests • To keep dilute emulsions stable for storage at room temperature • Good distribution of the highly active longer periods, we recommend adding • Self-dispersing silicone antifoam agents Efficiency Comparisons SILFOAM® products in the medium thickeners, such as carboxymethyl are best kept at room temperature • These are oriented to customer sys- to be defoamed is essential for high cellulose or polyacrylic acid solutions • Silicone antifoam emulsions are best tems and their technical processes efficiency stored at between 5 and 25 °C. • Agitation and recirculation pump tests • In calculating the optimum amount Shear Stability Temperatures above 30 °C or freezing or the generation of foam profiles, for to use, remember, during mixing, to • Shear forces can impair the effective- temperatures can affect the resistance example in washing machines allow enough antifoam agent pres- ness of SILFOAM® antifoam agents and dilutability • Provide practical data about the use ent to compensate for any loss of • With readily compatible antifoam agents, • Once opened, the drums should be of the antifoam agents in the final effect due to storage or dispersion the shear force leads to rapid dispersion carefully sealed to prevent microbial application. • In metering SILFOAM® by pump, of the antifoam and often distributes it contamination. we recommend using low-shear so finely that it quickly becomes exhausted equipment capable of metering • With antifoam agents that are relatively small amounts precisely incompatible, the shear forces can cause the antifoam to agglomerate and Dilution separate out • Antifoam compounds can be incor- • Pre-dispersed products such as emulsions porated homogeneously by diluting offer advantages as long as the shear them with suitable solvents, such as forces are not too high white spirit, ester or isopropyl alcohol 7 8 SILFOAM® STRIKES A BALANCE BETWEEN QUALITY AND ECONOMY 9 Textiles Highly Compatible Products Optimize Production Processes and Product Quality. SILFOAM® rounds off your textile production chain. SILFOAM® foam-control