Whether during production of powder detergents or in the powder detergent itself – SILFOAM® antifoams provide the necessary control. WACKER supplies a separate system for controlling foam development in each of the three manufacturing processes used for powder detergents.
- Post-Addition of a Ready-to Use Silicone Antifoam Powder
- In-house production of your own antifoam powder – via powder premix production
- Spray on the antifoam powder, along with other heat-sensitive components, after spray-drying. Silicone antifoam agents are also used for deaerating the slurry before the spray-drying process.
Spray-On Method
We recommend that the spray-on method be used for powder detergents based largely on phosphate builders. It offers many compelling advantages over post-addition of silicone antifoam powders. It is more economical and always leads to homogeneous distribution of the antifoam product in the detergent powder because the additives adhere to the individual detergent granules. In addition, this method yields wider formulation latitude, since the 100 %-silicone compound is added in much smaller quantities than the 15 %-silicone powder antifoam.
Powder Premix Production
These silicone antifoam compounds are suitable for producing antifoam powders or granules as so-called in-house premixes. They are incorporated into the powder matrix as active substance in a proportion of 5 % to 20 %. The antifoam activity increases as the viscosity of the compound increases. Heating lowers the viscosity and allows the product to be sprayed.
Slurry Deaeration
WACKER silicone antifoams are also used to deaerate the detergent slurry during spray-drying. This measure ensures pulsation-free and compression-free material flow and also regulates the powder density.
